PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, PT3: MILLENNIAL ILLNESS

via Google Analytics

This graph shows the age of BoomerPDX readers.

From a boomer blogger to millennials, I’m glad you read this blog.

Not all news is good, but good ideas help open the right doors.

I’m as surprised as anyone to see who shows up here, and millennials lead the pack according to Google Analytics.

And they need to participate in the electoral process for their own sake.

The elderly have a perspective younger people don’t.

They can look at pictures of themselves as young people and see how far they’ve come.

In a few glimpses at the past they can map their lives to current times.

Youth is relative to the 65+ population, but not to millennials.

Life is no more perfect for them than it is for anyone else.

That’s right, they have problems they need to address.

They’ll realize soon enough they’re not getting any younger.

Millennial illness charted for pre-existing conditions

This is a state by state estimate of young people with medical issues.

(Click the chart for a full view.)

The numbers are shocking for millennials with pre-existing conditions

You thought health challenges were restricted to the elderly

Check the top graph. 5.5% of boomerpdx readers are in the 65 and up column.

In the beginning my goal was to inspire the oldest visitors to get out and move around.

I saw the elderly as a clinical medic in the U.S. Army. Retired military and working civil servants came through my clinic every day.

Their health was at stake back then and nothing has changed.

23.5% percent of the audience here ranges between 45 and 65+.

For some it’s the Caregiving Age.

A whopping 76.5% of boomerpdx traffic comes between the ages of 18 and 44.

If the older crowd can’t pony up to a blog post, then the best approach is directing the younger group to help out.

Your parents and grandparents need your leadership.

If you read a post here that reflects your feelings, forward the post to elders in your family and tell them why.

Maybe it’s a tech-phobia, or tech-averse attitude in one group, but they’ll listen to you if you make your case persuasive enough.

This particular post speaks to them because it includes your problems. All fifty two million of them.

That’s the accumulative number of your tribe with declinable pre-existing conditions before Obamacare became law.

52,000,000. Give or take.

Elderly are aware of the ravages of time and bad lifestyles. They’ve been to more than enough funerals to take note of their own health.

At the young end of the scale, and everyone remembers this, health is taken for granted. Until it fails.

Then you are tagged with pre-existing conditions.

To safeguard your access to affordable health care, you need to step up and make time to speak out, to listen, and to vote for the sort of people who agree on the importance of good health.

Perhaps the 65+ group is taken care of by Medicare.

Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a transplant, sometimes called ESRD).

The different parts of Medicare help cover specific services:

Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance)

Part A covers inpatient hospital stays, care in a skilled nursing facility, hospice care, and some home health care.

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance)

Part B covers certain doctors’ services, outpatient care, medical supplies, and preventive services.

Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans)

A type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide you with all your Part A and Part B benefits. Medicare Advantage Plans include Health Maintenance Organizations, Preferred Provider Organizations, Private Fee-for-Service Plans, Special Needs Plans, and Medicare Medical Savings Account Plans. If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, most Medicare services are covered through the plan and aren’t paid for under Original Medicare. Most Medicare Advantage Plans offer prescription drug coverage.

Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage)

Part D adds prescription drug coverage to Original Medicare, some Medicare Cost Plans, some Medicare Private-Fee-for-Service Plans, and Medicare Medical Savings Account Plans. These plans are offered by insurance companies and other private companies approved by Medicare. Medicare Advantage Plans may also offer prescription drug coverage that follows the same rules as Medicare Prescription Drug Plans.

Not sure what kind of coverage you have?

Check your red, white, and blue Medicare card.
Check all other insurance cards that you use. Call the phone number on the cards to get more information about the coverage.
Check your Medicare health or drug plan enrollment.
Call us at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).===

Talk to any parent with a sick kid, any adult facing drastic health decisions.

If you don’t know anyone, listen to Joe Kennedy III’s take on the AHCA vote.

Thirty six year old Kennedy is in the prime demographic for boomerpdx, and he gets it.

Coming from a family suffering tragic losses on the national stage adds to the weight of his message.

Mercy?

He doesn’t sound like an elected official willing to turn his back on people in need.

via Texas Monthly

Joe Kennedy III might have a hard time joining a celebration with AHCA voters.

While they all look happy and ready to party, you might wonder if any of them have people with pre-existing conditions around their personal lives.

via slate.com

If this is all about politics, and the smart money says you don’t care enough to vote, do you agree?

They might be right.

via brookings.edu

All the graph shows is you’ll need to do better.

Start the conversations about health care and issues important to your future.

Let the future begin now by researching candidates who will do the people’s work for the good of the country.

Start here: