The Aging of America: Impact on Health Care Costs

Abstract

An unprecedented number of Americans are surviving into their 80s and 90s and this fastest-growing age group of the "oldest old" (those aged 85 years and older) will have a substantial impact on health care costs in the coming decades. Using current U.S. Census Bureau projections, Schneider and Guralnik project future costs for Medicare, nursing homes, dementia, and hip fractures and warn that cost containment measures alone will not be enough to slow health care costs for the elderly. They criticize suggestions that health care be rationed for older Americans. Instead, they recommend increased funding of biomedical research to improve our ability to prevent or cure diseases and disabilities associated with aging. (KIE abstract)