United States fiscal reports reveal that states and our national budget is running awry with major shortfalls affecting diverse populations of people, but in particular the elderly. We are told that the Medicare and Medicaid programs are running out of money. Today 35.3 million seniors are enrolled in Medicare. Approximately 7.7 million disabled people are enrolled in Medicare. An additional 42.6 million people are enrolled in Medicaid (more than half of whom are children). Clearly, our seniors, the disabled, and our low income individuals will face an incalculable loss if these programs cease to exist.

All told, 85.6 million people get coverage in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Individual states are grappling for answers to fund these programs at the level of care that is needed. If states cannot continue to provide housing and services for our elderly, the disabled, and those who are low income, one must ask: who will take care of them?

Our national and state governments are presently attempting to balance fiscal budgets. In an attempt to do this Medicaid is being cut in many states. The ramifications of these cuts are disconcerting. This kind of news is alarming when one considers that many retirees have been planning for a lifetime to retire on government benefits. Seniors had planned on Medicaid picking up the tab as they spend their final days in nursing homes. As one nursing home administrator put it, “It’s not a matter of if you’ll see facilities close… It’s how many!”

The U.S. Treasury Department provides us with discouraging reports regarding the future of Social Security. The future for those not yet in retirement, those already in retirement, the aged and the disabled seems vague and uncertain. It is no secret that Social Security is experiencing tumultuous times: some retirees have had their monthly Social Security checks lowered (rather than raised); for the past two years a cost of living adjustment (nationally) has been declined. Two programs that Social Security provides are Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI); both programs provide benefits to the disabled. Since Social Security is unstable, can we expect anything less from the programs that Social Security provides?

This year, more than ever, states are painstakingly looking for solutions to balance state budgets. Governments worldwide are experiencing deficits and struggling to bring federal budgets back into balance. Countries worldwide are struggling with social and political reform; civil unrest and government uprisings exist in many parts of the world. With such widespread chaos, priorities could quickly shift. Can one assume that the elderly and disabled will continue to be cared for at their required level of care? Can one assume that they will be cared for all?

One might ask, "What would happen if a government crumbles, and anarchy reigns?" What would happen if a government’s infrastructure ceases to exist? Where would a government’s priorities lie: Would services for the elderly and the disabled continue? With these thoughts in mind, we must begin to consider, as a nation, as a country, as a society whether our government(s) will have the continued necessary funding  to provide for those in retirement, our seniors and disabled, or must families begin to change the way they live their lives?