2006 State Report > Aging Trends > Challenges
Aging Trends: Challenges
- Affordable health care will be an important issue to mature adults. Decisions made concerning Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and privately funded health care will have to account for the growing number of mature adults.
- With improved preventative medical care and healthier lifestyles, many older adults may outlive their financial resources.
- As many employers shift from standard pension programs or drop them entirely, and reduce or eliminate health insurance coverage for retirees and their dependents, mature adults will need to take responsibility for this transition through financial literacy and planning.
- Seniors, especially those living in rural areas, will need affordable and reliable transportation.
- The sandwich generation of younger workers faces caregiving for aging parents or other relatives, while raising their own children. They will need to cope with this and plan for their retirement at the same time.
- South Carolina's infrastructure is inadequate to address the many medical needs of our aging population. The number of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities will have to increase to handle the growing elderly population. We also need to increase the ability of our seniors to remain at home and avoid higher cost institutional care whenever possible.
- Medical personnel must be attracted and retained to meet the needs of the aging population.