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The obits? No, it's not your imagination.
I might skip the front page, the opinion section and even the funnies, but I never pass on the obituaries. (Even in a metro area of 700,000+ people, I usually know someone, within two degrees of separation.) Does it seem like the number of pages devoted to obits have grown—I mean really expanded? That's because they have.
The annual number of deaths in the United States has increased by 40 percent over the past decade. No, it's not the pandemic. It's the natural progression of demographics 70 years after a Baby Boom. There's another reason, and it's truly disturbing: Mortality rates for those aged 25 to 64 have risen, due to chronic disease and substance abuse/mental health issues.
Why am I talking about this? Because it's another piece to the puzzle of our overburdened health care system. Leading up to every death is the process of dying. For a steep trajectory, emergency services are in play. If it's a long health care journey, months or even years of specialist care and, ultimately, hospice services are needed. Those are just three of the many subsectors of medicine now experiencing dramatic worker shortages. Demand has increased 40 percent; the labor force has not.
Shortages apply to available funding, as well. Twenty-five percent of Medicare spending goes for beneficiaries' care during the last twelve months of life. Really? Not preventive care? Or chronic disease management? Or mental health services? As end-of-life demands escalate, financial resources available for other areas of health care will continue to shrink.
Coupled with unimaginable stressors, health care workers are subject to the same forces of nature plaguing their patients. That's why we're also seeing mass—and early—exits by first responders, teachers, skilled tradesmen, yada yada. And along with these vanishing workers go decades of expertise, mentoring and loyalty.
Just 30 seconds more
I get that no one wants to think about death, but here's one reason you should: Competition. In everything from having your oil changed to getting an annual checkup, demographics are not on your side. These challenges are most obvious and life-altering in health care. If you don't have a primary care provider, best get one ASAP, and make that appointment for your AWV, PSA or WTH checkup. Reducing your need for more frequent and/or complex health care services is one way to overcome these demand-supply challenges, if only one patient at a time.
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