Boomers, Health Nuts, and Medical Insurance

Having been fortunate enough to have gravitated toward a group of older friends, I have long been privy to the fact of the medical insurance crisis this country is now encountering.

In younger days, the thought of old age isn't usually in the forefront. But these older friends knew what would be happening up the road with the boomer generation.

Younger by about ten years, I got into an obsession about these folks, because they were fascinating and because of other reasons I couldn't explain.

But they knew what would be happening up the road because it was rather obvious. Yet hardly anyone was thinking about the future of medical insurance at the time. In those days the economy was great.

Fortunate to know and learn from these people, I discovered healthy living, and a philosophy that embraced caring for the body, mind, and soul.

The one thing that everyone knew about our future was that the population swelled when we were born. The rest of the story was apparent. There were too many of us, and this would eventually reflect in the current medical insurance predicament.

The Health Nut Era

It was a time when taking vitamin supplements and practicing yoga came into vogue with certain members of our generation. Everyone in our group knew that once we got older there would be a medical insurance dilemma since we were so plentiful, and would be aging en mass.

At the same time, it was a taboo to be interested in taking care of your own health. The medical profession held domination on society as the space age loomed in the skies. Science was a god, though medical science hadn't included nutrition in the overall health picture.

Anyone advocating self help in those days was often disparagingly ridiculed as a health nut.

As it were, we have come to the proving point of the health nut extremists. The boomer generation begins in the late forties and goes on through 1964. It's almost divided into two parts with a thinning in the middle.

Now, the younger part of this generation can look to taking care of the elders as a main vocational pursuit.

The Medicare system is in the state of shock. On one hand, these people who had decided to advocate for self health care, do happen to be healthier statistically compared to generations past. Now, the medical insurance management is hoping to rely on this factor.

So, the knowledge of what was logically foreseeable led to the best preparation for old age, independent of government, or medical insurance statistics.

Senior citizens might be seen jogging down the road or on a beach. Active senior communities host tennis courts and are filled with silvery haired competitors.

Government and medical insurance statisticians are encouraging former health nuts to continue these self help methods of prevention. They are also encouraging the older generation to find a work niche, so they can continue working through their elderly years.

Statistic ref

PBS. org