Orange County needs to invest in senior care
Orange County seniors are likely to require increased care as federal funding looks likely to be cut and the senior population being due to expand by two-thirds in the next 20 years. The county's Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) could be the solution for older residents, however, with the right support. The program is a Medicare and Medi-Cal system that coordinates primary, preventative, acute and long-term care for seniors, as well as overseeing social and rehabilitative services. It also helps older citizens to live independently and gain community support. PACE offers options aside from nursing home care that can still cover all necessary facets of older living, such as primary care, specialized care, food, prescription drugs, oral care, transportation for care and recreational therapy sessions. However, Orange County is lacking support for PACE and other similar services that could radically improve the lives of seniors. Health care costs for the average 65 year old couple, even with Medicare coverage, is around $276,000, and does not cover long term care costs. Not only that, but older residents also face discrimination based on ethnicity and language capacity, making the provision of adequate services even more vital. Providing the present 622,907 residents aged 60 or over with adequate care is important, but even more necessary is the extension of current services for the aging population of the future.

Orange County seniors need our support now more than ever. With the impending cuts in health care on the national level, we will see an increase in the number of seniors requiring care. For Orange County, that means we need to see more from our Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE. It is a program that is not currently reaching enough of our senior population, but could provide vital benefits for all participants.

Over the next two decades, California’s senior population is expected to grow by nearly two-thirds. Indeed, by 2035, nearly one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, and today in Orange County, 622,907 of our residents are already there.

In fact, of all 58 counties in California, Orange County has the second-highest number of minority seniors, Medi-Cal-eligible seniors, and non-English-speaking seniors. Therefore, in addition to the vulnerability of old age, many of our seniors face other sources of discrimination and disadvantages due to their ethnicity or language capabilities.

I present these numbers to you because our seniors are a significant portion of our community and population here in Orange County — and the fastest-growing age group in the County — and they are not receiving the care they deserve. It is up to us to respond to the needs of this population.

With health care costs making up the majority of senior expenses, seniors on a fixed income regularly struggle to make ends meet. The average 65-year-old couple with Medicare insurance coverage would still need an average of $276,000 to cover projected medical expenses during the combined remainder of their lives, and that doesn’t even cover most long-term care expenses.

While Medi-Cal and the Affordable Care Act have provided vital safety nets and support for these seniors, our cities and counties need to take further steps to protect this population as seniors face potential changes to their current health care status.

Here in Orange County, we have taken such steps in the form of PACE. PACE is a Medicare and Medi-Cal program designed to coordinate and provide all needed preventative, primary, acute and long-term care; social services and rehabilitative services to seniors through one comprehensive program. Furthermore, it does this while helping seniors to continue to live independently, and with dignity, in their communities.

PACE gives seniors an option outside of nursing home care that still provides everything an aging family member might need, including primary care, specialty services, meals, prescription drugs, dental care, recreational therapy and, most importantly, transportation to and from the facilities.

However, Orange County does not have enough of these facilities, and while I am confident that the handful of seniors who have used the program here have benefited from them, it is simply not enough. The thousands of seniors in our county need help, and PACE can give it to them. We need more such programs in Orange County.

As the CEO of the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I regularly see the disadvantages that our minorities suffer as they enter old age — a vulnerable time for all of us, even under the best of circumstances. PACE offers all the services that ensure a good quality of life for seniors. It is critical that we develop more of these comprehensive centers in our community to serve the needs of Orange County’s elderly.

As a local business advocate serving the Hispanic community, I ask our community and our county to step up for our seniors and support an expansion of PACE programs in Orange County.

Reuben D. Franco is CEO of the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.