The Senior Scene

Fifty years ago, on July 30, 1965, the landscape of healthcare in America changed forever when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed landmark legislation giving life to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. As we commemorate Medicare’s 50th anniversary, we celebrate the legacy of the program and commit ourselves to keep it strong for current and future generations.
What is Medicare’s legacy? Before 1965, roughly half of all seniors were uninsured. That meant if a person became ill, they risked not only the loss of their health, but what little savings they may have had, not to mention their dignity. Although Social Security had been in effect for almost 30 years, nearly one of every three older Americans was still living in poverty.
Today, Medicare provides guaranteed, affordable coverage for roughly 46 million Americans 65 and older and about 11 million people with disabilities. The program has transformed the lives of millions by helping them pay for vital healthcare services, including hospitalizations, physician visits, prescription drugs, and preventive services.
Along with Medicaid, Medicare provides Americans with access to the quality and affordable healthcare they need to live happy, healthy and productive lives. Over the course of five decades, Medicare and Medicaid have become the standardbearers for coverage, quality and innovation in American healthcare.
Medicare remains a vital pillar of support for older Americans and those with disabilities — and will likely remain so for as long as illness and injury overtake human beings. Yes, Medicare’s golden anniversary is a cause for celebration and reflection. Yet it is also a time to think ahead about how we can ensure that the program continues to fulfill its essential role.
Medicare today faces a number of challenges, including the rising cost of healthcare and a growing aging population. There are more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries in Washington, and every day, 10,000 boomers nationally are turning 65. By 2030, Medicare will be serving twice as many people as it did in 2000.
Fortunately, there are responsible solutions that can stabilize Medicare for future generations and keep its promise for many years to come. Medicare is constantly transforming to create a healthcare system that delivers better care, spends health care dollars more wisely, and results in healthier people. We are committed to fostering efforts to keep Medicare strong – not only for today’s retirees but also for our children and grandchildren.
How has Medicare helped your life or the life of someone you care about? You can share your Medicare story at Medicare.gov.

This article was written by Doug Shadel, state director of AARP Washington, and John Hammarlund, regional administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

MultiCare Health System has begun offering doctor visits via video for patients, including adults of all ages.
A partnership with Doctor On Demand provides immediate access to a board-certified physician for a wide range of medical issues including cough, flu, eye infections and sports-related injuries. The service is in the comfort of patients’ homes and at a low cost, MultiCare officials said.
“We know that busy families are demanding more convenient access to healthcare. This new offering will make it easier for them to get the care they need,” said Dr. Claire Spain-Remy, MultiCare’s chief physician officer.
MultiCare Doctor On Demand service includes:
•Patients connecting with a doctor within 90 seconds. If prescriptions are clinically appropriate, physicians send them electronically to their patient’s local pharmacy.
• The cost of each visit is $40.
• Face-to-face communication, which allows the doctor to see a patient’s medical issues in real time.
• Care for anyone from infants to adults and the elderly. The service is particularly convenient for busy moms and workers, officials said.
• Integration with MultiCare’s electronic medical records to ensure that all patient records are sent securely.
“We created Doctor On Demand to provide Americans with fast and easy access to high-quality, cost effective health care,” said
Dr. Pat Basu, chief medical officer at Doctor On Demand, said the system’s goal is fast and easily accessed healthcare.
To connect with a physician, patients go online at www.multicaredoctorondemand.com or download the Doctor On Demand app on a smartphone or tablet. After answering a few questions about their health issues, they are connected with a physician.
MultiCare Health System operates five hospitals in Pierce and King counties (Allenmore, Auburn Medical, Good Samaritan, Mary Bridge Children’s and Tacoma General ). The healthcare network also includes MultiCare Medical Associates, affiliated physicians, primary, specialty and urgent-care clinics, and community outreach services.

Sam’s Club stores are offering free health screenings for one day in July to members and non-members alike as a way of encouraging seniors to get preventative healthcare.
The service will be available July 11 at all stores with pharmacies.Those locations include two in King County – Auburn (1101 Outlet Collection Dr. SW.), Renton (901 S. Grady Way) and Seattle (13550 Aurora Ave. )
As the nation’s 50-and-older population continues to grow, services that help prevent and detect potential health problems become increasingly important. Yet, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, only 25 percent of adults 50 to 64 years old are taking advantage of the preventive services available to them, said Jill Turner-Michael, Sam’s Club’s senior vice president for health and wellness.
The free screenings for Sam’s Club and the general public will include blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL (good cholesterol), risk ratio, glucose and body mass index.
“We hope to give older adults a chance to protect one of their most valuable assets – their health,” Turner-Michael said.

Increased vascular stiffness has been identified as an important part of hypertension in aging adults.
Previous studies of aortic stiffness have focused on changes in structural proteins that alter the properties of vascular walls, causing them to become rigid. Now, a research team led by scientists at the University of Missouri (UM) have determined that smooth muscle cells, which line the interior of vascular walls, are a major contributing factor to vascular stiffness, one of the major causes of hypertension. Researchers believe that results from their study could help provide new possibilities for drug treatments for the disease in aging patients.
“Arterial and vascular stiffness occurs through the normal process of biological aging and is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes,” said Gerald Meininger, director of the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center and a professor of medical pharmacology and physiology in the School of Medicine at UM. “As we age, the aorta, which normally acts as a shock absorber dampening the pulse associated with each heartbeat, tightens and becomes rigid, causing a host of problems, including high blood pressure, increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events and even death.”
In the United States, the risk of developing hypertension due to aging is greater than 90 percent in men and women. Recent studies have identified several mechanisms for arterial stiffness in humans. Research has focused on the structural matrix proteins, or non-living components that compose the outer walls of blood vessels, as well as endothelial cells which line the inner portion of the vascular walls. Meininger and his team focused on a new potential source—smooth muscle cells that are a major component of the “middle” of the blood vessel wall.
Teaming with researchers at Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute for Technology, Meininger and his group isolated aortic cells from normal and hypertensive rat models in both young and aged animals. Then, using atomic force microscopy, an advanced microscope that incorporates a tiny probe that can interact with single cells and molecules, the team measured the compression force of the needle against the specimen and how the tip adhered to or “stuck” to smooth muscle cells.
“We found that hypertension increased both vascular smooth cell stiffness and adhesion or stickiness, and that these changes were augmented by aging,” Meininger said. “Our results are adding to our understanding and taking studies in a different direction. Although all cells are contributing to arterial stiffness, it’s important to identify the order in which they’re adding to the problem. Identifying smooth muscle cells as a contributor can help identify possible preventatives and potential drugs to counteract and reverse the disease and keep vessels healthier as we age.”
The early-stage results of this research are promising. If additional studies are successful within the next few years, UM officials will request authority from the federal government to begin human drug development (this is commonly referred to as the “investigative new drug” status). After this status has been granted, researchers may conduct human clinical trials with the hope of developing new treatments for arterial stiffness and resulting hypertension.