U.S. Not Ready for Rise in Disabled Americans

[Philosoraptor]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/24/health/webmd/main2724291.shtml

WebMD) Experts warned in a report Tuesday that the U.S. is largely unprepared for a coming explosion in its disabled population.

As many as 50 million Americans currently live with physical or mental impairments that prevent them from taking on regular work or life activities. But that number is expected to skyrocket as an aging population and rising obesity rates take their toll on Americans, concludes a report issued by a panel at the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

"It becomes quite clear that disability will essentially affect the lives of most Americans," says Alan M. Jette, the panel's chairman.

"Even just getting into and around health facilities ... is really very difficult nowadays," says Lisa I. Lezzoni, a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School Institute for Health Policy and a member of the IOM panel.

[SoCalDem]

1. Frankenfood, crappy air, chemical-overload, no exercise in schools

unaffordable health care.. etc.

what else would we expect:(

[Philosoraptor]

2. So true.

I think the air is giving us all cancer, tire particulates, noxious gases, and the food, my god the food is outright poison.

Soon the hospitals will be overwhelmed, they'll outnumber the prisons.

[The2ndWheel]

3. Hey, what do you know, another problem

which we will ultimately only make larger and more complex by whatever solution we come up with. Look at the adjectives used to describe the disabled, aging, and obese portion of the population. I feel those make my point.