Guess What? The Elderly Are Not Bankrupting the Health Care System

According to a recently released study by the International Longevity Center-USA, Myths of the High Medical Cost of Old Age and Dying, it's not true that the aging of Americans and over aggressive care at the end of life are major causes of increasing health care costs in the United States.

According to the report, studies that have looked at the causes of increased health care spending conclude that only 5 to 10 percent of the increase may be attributed to the aging of the population, the other 90 to 95 percent resulting from other causes.

Many have predicted that the already high cost of caring for seniors will skyrocket in about 20 years when the oldest baby boomers start reaching age 85.  The new report says that this is not necessarily so if better health care can reduce the prevalence of chronic disability.  In fact, the percentage of chronic disability among seniors decreased by 6.5 points over the period between 1982 and 1999.

While studies do show a high percentage of Medicare costs going to care during beneficiaries' last year of life, further examination shows that this is not necessarily due to over-aggressive care being provided.  And these costs as a percentage of overall Medicare spending have remained stable over the years.

To download or purchase the entire report, go to www.ilcusa.org.