There are times when we think that problems and issues in the delivery and financing of senior care services in the United States are somewhat unique to us given our non-nationalized health care system and various payment sources. Guess again. Last week we were able to attend the opening session of The Scottish Parliament in the capital of Edinburgh under the new leadership of the Scottish National Party, a party which, according to one local we chatted with, has Scottish nationalism, and just about nothing else, at the top of its party platform. But the Executive Debate on that overcast, chilly June afternoon (so what else is new for Scottish weather?) was on “Free Personal Care.” Apparently, the elderly in Scotland had not seen a payment increase in five years, a length of time even the stingiest states in the U.S. could never get away with. In 2002, “free personal care” was introduced in Scotland, and currently more than 50,000 elderly benefit from the policy, most of whom receive it at home but others in “care homes.” The bad news for the elderly is that the payment rate will not increase until next April, and the increase will be based on some inflation factor referred to as being in line with the return on a “significant” investment. I guess it will all depend on the government’s definition of significant. The current cost of “free personal care” is about $420 million per year, but one local think tank has estimated that the cost could triple in 50 years as Scotland’s population ages. Sound familiar?
We don’t know whether it was the particular week in the UK or not, but every day seemed to bring a new headline in the local papers on elderly care and health care in general. A sampling includes the following: “Elderly need new rights to protect against abuse,” “Mistreatment of elderly as bad as child abuse,” “How we treat the elderly is a national scandal,” plus an editorial entitled “Age Concern - Neglect and abuse of the elderly are a big problem that may well get bigger.” This much attention on the elderly has rarely, if ever, received as much attention in the national press in this country in one week’s time. Perhaps they knew we were coming. The point is that we are not unique in having problems dealing with an aging population, and with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), growing old across the pond certainly isn’t any better than it is here. At least Michael Moore, in his new propaganda piece, “Sicko,” isn’t recommending the elderly retire to Cuba (just the wonderful health care you can receive there when the cameras are rolling).
Other health care topics making it into the headlines included the expected recommendation from the Joint Committe on Vaccination and Immunisation for all 12-year old girls to receive the vaccination to protect against the human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer, at a cost to the national health system of more than $200 million per year. And, in a rather odd one, the National Health Service is being urged to “provide” (meaning, pay for) “bra-fitters” to help cut the number of unnecessary breast reduction surgeries “demanded by women whose lingerie is several sizes too small.” And this was the lead article on page 4 of the national news, pictures and all, in The Sunday Times. Just below it was an article about NHS doctors prescribing walks and bicycle rides “to tackle lazy lifestyles underlying many illnesses.” No wonder I felt like I was at home while abroad.
