According to geriatrician and internist David Chess M.D., a new study from the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests an unsettling prognosis for the future medical care of aging American baby boomers.The generation born after World War II will face potential jeopardy if healthcare changes are not made swiftly enough. The problem: an aging population faced with an imperfect healthcare system that does not place enough emphasis on geriatric care. Medicare is already in serious financial trouble, and new rules to financially shore up the program are likely to drive more and more doctors from participation, especially those in primary care. According to Dr. Chess, that will only exacerbate problems identified in the study, which include too few specialists in geriatric medicine, insufficient training, underpaid primary care and geriatric physicians, and a failure of Medicare to support new strategies. [continue reading…]