The Python Finally Swallowed the Goat: The Aging of the Baby Boomers Has Created a Health Care Crisis

Years ago, a particular generational cohort prompted demographers to coin the phrase “goat in the python.”  The cause of this phenomenon is actually rather basic.

The term "goat in the python" was coined by demographers to describe a particular generational cohort.

The phenomenon is caused by the drastic decline in birth rates during the Great Depression, followed by a baby boom after World War II.

This resulted in a large generation of seniors being "swallowed" by a smaller generation of working-age people.

The metaphor is apt because the python's digestion is notoriously slow, and the goat's presence can be felt for a long time.

In the United States, the baby boomers are now reaching retirement age, and their presence is being felt in several ways.

The demand for hearing aids and Depends is increasing, but more importantly, the healthcare system is facing a staffing crisis.

Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and their highly trained assistants are aging and retiring at record rates, while the population they serve continues to grow older.

This is putting a strain on the system, and it is expected to worsen in the coming years.

The actuarial consequences of this demographic shift have been anticipated for decades, but little has been done to mitigate the problem.

Much concern has been focused on the solvency of Social Security, but there are many other pension plans, especially for government workers who are exempted from Social Security.

The Reason Foundation estimates the combined current unfunded liability of these plans to be at $1.59 trillion in its 2024 Pension Solvency and Performance Report.

In addition to demographics, political correctness has contributed to this problem by forbidding investment in such profitable financial pariahs as Israel and the oil industry.

Social Security never invested its "float" of surplus funds back when its income exceeded its outgo — and was therefore denied any of the benefits of capital formation.

Now, it's too late. There are so many retirees largely dependent on Social Security that it's earned the title "The Third Rail of Politics"… if you touch it you can die … politically, that is.

Forbes recently calculated that, once the expected depletion of the primary Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund occurs in 2033, recipients will still get 76% of their benefit from the money being collected from those still paying in Social Security Isn’t Going Bankrupt—Here’s Why – Forbes Advisor.

Then what?

Milton Friedman called Social Security “Robin Hood in reverse” because it takes from the poorest demographic by age — young people just starting out — and it gives to the richest age cohort — people who've had many years to accumulate wealth.

And, as a lasting aftermath of the boomers being such a unique and specific generation, subsequent generations have also been labeled … but only for the reason that their predecessors were so significantly identified.

You got your X, Y and Z … so far. Y is also known as “Millennials.”

Gee, everybody’s trying to get into the act.