On May 11, 2009, Colorado Senator Michael Bennett introduced a new health care bill aimed to improve patient care and save money on health care costs. This new bill, the Medicare Transitions Act of 2009, is designed to improve patient care by ensuring that Medicare patients receive timely and effective follow-up care after they check-out of the hospital. The Medicare Transitions Act of 2009 bill aims to provide a nationwide network of local transitional care coaches that would help Medicare patients recover and self-manage their condition. Personal follow-up care would be offered in order to ensure that elderly patients were effectively self-managing their condition and properly administering medications.

The bill would reduce costs by dramatically lowering patient readmission rates. Too many seniors are being readmitted into hospitals everyday even though it could have been prevented. For every five Medicare patients who are released from the hospital, one is readmitted within 1 month. This statistic can be prevented with proper follow-up treatment. Personal follow-up care would assess each patient’s condition and provide necessary treatment or further instructions for self-care. The cost of Medicare and Medicaid are two of the biggest deficits facing the nation today. Cutting costs on Medicare and Medicaid and improving senior care are exceedingly important in times of economic recession. Health care reform is essential to protect our elderly and secure our future.

President Obama recently announced the introduced of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA allows $2 billion to be invested into community care centers, increase the quality of care provided to our elderly, and jumpstart our economy, among other things. These health centers will provide quality care for those who are in need, even for people who don’t have insurance. Unfortunately, many seniors cannot afford quality health care, and because of that our nation is suffering. Taking care of the elderly by offering quality, affordable health care coverage can positively impact society in many ways. Not only can it help promote longevity, but it can also help lower America’s large deficit.

Today’s centenarians are simply living a healthy and an active, natural life span for the human body is created to live a long, healthy life if nurtured with care but also keeping in mind predictable factors like disease and death. The fear of getting old and infirm is what keeps us from being hale and hearty. Life should be determined much by its content rather than its length. Therefore, life should be led purposefully and fervently till the last breath.

Aging is part of our natural growth process. Aging is the buildup of experiences and changes in our entire life. It begins at the outset and concludes at death. It is another stage in our development. We are all in the process of aging and must learn ways of dealing with changes that occur all through our lives. Aging and illness are not identical, and the idea that senility is a natural sign of aging is wrong. By understanding the normal aging process, you can determine better what changes are normal and what may be indication of illness. And, by recognizing the normal changes in the body, you will be able to take steps to minimize or delay them and achieve better health.

Science has made great strides forward in understanding of just what aging is, how it works, and most important of all — what we can do about it. We can reduce diseases of aging and prolong our health and vital years. In short, we will be able to look younger and live longer naturally. Over 85% of the incapacitating diseases of old age result from only a handful of diseases — cancer, coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure, obstructive lung disease, pneumonia and influenza. Heart disease, by itself, accounts for fully one out of every two deaths of older Americans, and high blood pressure directly causes or contributes to 15% of all deaths. We now can control even these pathologies by our lifestyle. By the simple act of knowing what to eat, exercise, and live your life, you can lower your risk for these diseases of aging and incorporate this knowledge into your lifestyle, thus avoiding the causes of premature aging, weakness and death.