“There’s a lot of poverty among seniors in Maine,” Schuh told Financial Advisor magazine. “It costs $8.50 to make a meal. We’re left with a short fall of about $5 for every meal.”
To bridge the gap in funding, the local organization relies on community support and proceeds from fundraisers, grant requests and annual letters.
Although Maine’s health care system is ranked the best in the nation, Avery discovered that gerontologists are scarce.
“It’s not sexy to work with seniors because you cannot save someone from dying of old age,” Heath said. “Geriatricians, for example, are the lowest paid on the specialty list of positions because often the payment source is Medicare.”
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) projects that 30,000 geriatricians will be needed by 2030 to provide medical services to 76 million baby boomers, all of whom will have reached 65 years old by then, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. AGS offers an online directory for advisors and others to locate local geriatricans.
Medicare historically has paid less for medical services than private insurance and Maine Senator Susan Collins opposed the Graham-Cassidy health care proposal because of the impact it would have on Medicare in Maine.
“This would have a devastating impact to a program that has been on the books for 50 years and provides health care to our most vulnerable citizens, including disabled children and low-income seniors,” Collins said.
The health care policy firm Avalere predicts that the Graham-Cassidy health care bills, if passed, would cause the state of Maine to lose $1 billion between 2020 and 2026, $2 billion by 2027 and $17 billion by 2037.
“Maine is a primarily rural, poor state with pockets of wealth in places like Kennebunkport, Camden and Bar Harbor,” said Avery. “As a result, Medicare is extremely important for taking care of many senior citizens. If those cuts happen and Maine’s already significant elderly population increases because of a retirement boom, the state will face a financial crisis.”
The alternative to underfunded nursing homes and assisted living facilities is aging in place; however Maine has some of the oldest housing stock in the country that's not easily adapted to the needs of the aging.
“If you try to apply modern building codes to houses in Maine, there are real problems for aging a place. Many homes were built pre-1920s so you'll pay a high price for renovating stairways, creating living space on the first floor and lead paint remediation because many of these homes still have lead-based paint on the exteriors," said Avery.