Video: A CT Mirror/AARP conversation on caring for a rapidly aging state [Connecticut Mirror]

Article as it appeared in the Connecticut Mirror

Connecticut is old and getting older. One in seven residents is 75 or older, more than a quarter of the state is at least 55, and the 65-plus population is projected to grow by 64 percent by 2030.

How should the state prepare? What are we doing now that works? What do we do need to do differently? And how much of elder care will fall to the government?

Along with sponsor AARP, The Connecticut Mirror hosted a Google Hangout on Thursday to explore those questions with Lt. Gov Nancy Wyman, state Sen. Joseph Markley of Southington and Elaine Ryan of AARP’s national office in Washington. The Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas moderated.

A study in 2009 found that 711,000 residents provided the equivalent of $5.8 billion in care to older relatives — roughly the same as Connecticut spends on Medicaid.