Ramsey: Growing Inland Senior Population Will Require New Services

Seniors citizens are one of the fastest growing demographics in the Inland Empire. Many seniors moved to the region because of the affordable housing and great climate.

Lisa Ramsey, founder of the Riverside-based Medi-Cal Consulting Services, Inc., is one of the area’s leading senior care professionals in tune with the long-term medical needs of the rising senior population. Ramsey, a former Medi-Cal worker, uses her past work experiences to help families ensure that their Medi-Cal applications go through. "The most common reason why the applications are rejected is because of 'failure to provide,' which means the Medi-Cal workers don't have the requested information," she said.

Ramsey says that in many cases the workers ask for documents that are not needed, and in others, the workers may ask for documents that they themselves can easily find.  In her experience in working with all the 58 counties throughout California, she feels that Medi-Cal workers need more thorough training on the application process. She often does training workshops around the state on this issue, and is currently working with the Orange County Medi-Cal office to assist in providing some additional training to their Medi-Cal workers.

As an advocate for seniors, Ramsey frequently gives talks about Medi-Cal to nursing homes and other senior communities in the Inland Empire and throughout California. Since she works closely with senior care providers and nursing facilities, she sees the challenges they face finding affordable healthcare and housing.

A growing senior population means that there will be a rising demand for affordable care facilities that specialize in seniors with Alzheimer's and other dementia-related illnesses. Seniors with these kinds of medical conditions have special requirements. "These facilities need to be secure because seniors with dementia tend to wander away and may harm themselves," Ramsey said. "These kind of facilities tend to be very expensive, and most seniors on fixed incomes can't afford $4,000 to $5,000, which is what these facilities cost on the average."

Ramsey also expressed concern about how health care reform will affect our medical system. "Seniors are concerned that changes to the system might mean that people with expensive treatment, like a heart bypass, maybe turned down, because they only have a few years to live," Ramsey said.

From her work in the long-term care field, Ramsey is also familiar with the common ailments that affect seniors. She has noticed that many people are being affected by ailments such as heart attacks, strokes and diagnoses of Parkinson's and Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier age. She is particularly concerned about the rising incidence of diabetes and the lack of education available in controlling diabetes.

"It can turn into a serious life-threatening issue," Ramsey said. "People are not educated about it, and so they ignore it until becomes a big issue."

Ramsey's concern about the effects of diabetes is one of the reasons why she is involved with Riverside Community Health Foundation's Diabetes Collaborative Group, which provides education and information about diabetes.

For more information about Medi-Cal Consulting Services, Inc. call 877-633-4435 or go to www.medihelper.com.