Commentary: Texas must prepare for its booming senior population
Jacqueline Angel and Jason Castillo, For the Express-News
June 25, 2021
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Texas needs a task force to use managed care principles and take a fresh look at cost-benefit options for providing health care to low-income seniors and people with disabilities.Carlos Avila Gonzalez /The Chronicle
This year, the Texas Legislature adjourned without addressing the largest demographic shift confronting the state: The number of seniors 65 and older is expected to diversify and more than double, from 3.9 million in 2020 to 8.3 million by 2050.
Evidence shows that longer lives are increasingly accompanied by longer periods of compromised health and declining physical and cognitive capacities. Texas, like many other states, will be forced to reassess its ability to provide the care that a rapidly aging population needs. The central question: Who will pay the bill for how the state provides the most basic servi