Page 78 - BusinessWest December 9, 2024

“An aging population means higher use of healthcare services and a greater need
for family and professional caregivers.”
>>Continued from page 32
Health
shortage of up to 139,000 physicians by 2033.
According to HHS, “the shortage of healthcare providers
has significant implications for the health sector, as it affects the access, quality, and cost of healthcare, as well as the health outcomes and satisfaction of the population.
An aging population means higher use of healthcare services and a greater need for family and professional caregivers.”
At the same time, with more families than ever relying on senior services, the Massachusetts Legislature passed an act boosting patient protections in long-term care and assisted living this past summer.
The bill, among other things, creates a regulatory struc- ture for basic health services in assisted living, shores up review and monitoring of long-term care facilities, and directs the Department of Public Health to develop regula- tions for small-house nursing homes.
“In addition to strengthening Massachusetts’ long-term care sector, this bill provides innovative tools to address some of the most persistent capacity, discharge, and access challenges being seen on the grounds of our acute-care hos- pitals,” the Massachusetts Hospital Assoc. said in response to the bill’s passage. “By focusing on the long-term care workforce, the simplification of insurance authorizations, the needs of the most complex MassHealth patients, and important pandemic-era flexibilities, we are hopeful that this legislation can help free up some of the 1,700 hospital beds occupied by patients in need of post-acute-care services.”
Mental Health at the Fore
According to the World Health Organization, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25%, prompting WHO Direc- tor General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to state that “this is a wake-up call to
all countries to pay more
attention to mental health
ridation, and support of alternative treatments and products from hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to raw milk — are controversial among mainstream medical leaders, but we can expect conversations around those topics and more to increase in the public-health arena.
What isn’t as controversial — and what Trump says Ken- nedy will focus on — is combating chemicals, pollutants, and additives that many believe contribute to chronic disease
in the U.S. Kennedy has called this an easy fix, noting that many food ingredients common in the U.S. are not permitted in European countries.
“Kennedy has called for greater regulation of food addi- tives and ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods in American diets have led to an explosion in obesity, diabe- tes, high blood pressure, and other chronic disease,” Céline Grounder, senior fellow and editor-at-large for Public Health at KFF Health News, told CBS recently.
“However, it’s unclear which factions within Trump’s orbit will prevail. Congress may have to give the FDA the author- ity to regulate more aggressively and the funding to enforce those regulations. Historically, the Republican Party has been opposed to regulation. Trump’s chief of staff pick, Susie Wiles, is a longtime lobbyist who has worked on behalf of the food, insurance, and tobacco industries.”
A Hard Look at Senior Care
People age 65 years and older made up 17% of the popu- lation in 2020. By 2040, that number is expected to grow to 22%. According to the World Health Organization, the global health workforce was 43.5 million in 2018 and is projected to grow to 53.9 million by 2030, which will still fall short of the estimated demand of 80 million by 2030. In the U.S., a study by the Assoc. of American Medical Colleges predicts a
Health >> Continued on page 41
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