Berg talks aging plan
9/28/2006
Assemblymember Patty Berg, the Legislature’s point person on aging issues, rallied prominent lawmakers and seniors’ advocates Wednesday in support of a policy agenda designed to prepare California for a dramatic increase in its elderly population.
California is on the verge of massive growth in the senior population, as the postwar baby boom generation pushes its record-setting demographic bubble into the costliest segment of society. The state’s elder population will not only grow in number, but also in percentage, going from one in 10 residents today, to one in seven residents within two decades.
“No state has ever seen a demographic shift like this,” said Berg (D-Eureka). “There is no road map because it’s never happened before. That’s why it’s crucial that we begin planning now.”
Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) and state Senate candidate Darrell Steinberg joined Berg in releasing the 26-page report. Also participating were Gary Passmore of the Congress of California Seniors, Sandi Fitzpatrick of the California Commission on Aging, Joan Lee of the Gray Panthers of California, Betty Perry of the Older Women’s League of California and Jackie McGrath of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Berg, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, said California will be the “grayest state in the nation,” exceeding the aged population of Florida by 2020.
As they have since their arrival, baby boomers will strain the public infrastructure in their old age. And, just as government responded in the 1950s and 1960s with schools, parks and hospitals, governments must now respond with more efficient aging services and new strategies to accommodate the needs of the largest generation in the nation’s history.
“California is either going to get ready or get swamped,” Berg said. “It’s really that simple.”
Among the policy priorities in Berg’s report are Medi-Cal funding of telemedicine, more coherent driver screening programs, building codes that reflect the needs of an aging population and stiffer penalties for those who prey on elderly people.
Berg said her agenda will serve as a measuring stick against which bill proposals may be tested, to see whether they would really help California prepare. She also said the document identifies a number of ways in which the baby boom generation will provide economic growth in California, by creating new demand for health service workers, as well as increased demand for smart housing and transportation alternatives. Although many older boomers will need significant state-funded services, much of this population will also be better educated, more affluent, and more accustomed to creating change than the generations that preceded them.
“There are as many opportunities as there are challenges,” Berg said. “But we have to be prepared to make the most of those, too.”
The report, Building an Aging Agenda for the 21st Century, is the third in a series of master plan reports published since Berg began chairing the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee. All three reports are available electronically at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01.
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