Aging facts

In January 2006, the first of 78 million “baby boomers” began to turn 60. Currently there are 34.9 million Americans aged 65 and older, comprising 12.4% of our population. The number of those 65 or older will double to 70.3 million by 2030. The 85+ population is projected to increase from 4.6 million in 2002 to 9.6 million in 2030.

Persons reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 18.1 years (19.4 years for females, 16 years for males).
Within a decade, an aging America will spend one of every five dollars on health care. The nation’s total health care bill is expected to tally more than $4 trillion by 2015, accounting for one fifth of gross domestic product. In 2004, $1.87 trillion was spent on health care. Public and private health care spending is expected to reach about $12,320 per capita in 2015, compared with $6,683 in 2005. Medicare spending will reach $792 billion in 2015, compared with $309 billion in 2004.



Age-Related Diseases

Even though people are living longer than ever, diseases of aging continue to affect many older men and women, seriously compromising the quality of their lives and their economic well being.

Government statistics show that more than half of all Americans over age 65 show evidence of osteoarthritis in at least one joint. More than half of Americans over age 50 have osteoporosis or low bone mass. Cancer, in nearly all of its forms, is directly linked to aging; 77% of all malignancies are diagnosed after the age of 55. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease; one in 10 individuals over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 are affected. It costs taxpayers three times as much to treat an Alzheimer's patient as any other Medicare patient. One out of every 100 persons over the age of 60 suffers from Parkinson’s disease with 600,000 new cases being diagnosed each year. Each year about 700,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke. Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States.
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