Health costs will surge without better prevention
Last Updated Aug 2007
Last Updated: 2007-03-08 16:28:18 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The cost of caring for aging Americans will add 25 percent to
the nation's health-care bill by 2030 unless people act now to stay healthy, the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
Currently, 80 percent of Americans 65 or older have at least one chronic disease
that could lead to premature death and disability, CDC researchers said.
The report, The State of Aging and Health in America 2007, projects that by 2030
71 million Americans will be over 65, accounting for 20 percent of the U.S.
population, up from 10 to 11 percent now.
With the cost of caring for older Americans at three- to five-times greater than
care for younger adults, CDC researchers believe policymakers and individuals
should take steps to help aging adults forestall chronic disease.
"Given the demographics ... the economic impact on healthcare will be enormous,"
said Dr. Richard Murray, a vice president at Merck & Co. Inc., whose foundation
funded the study.
If people adopt healthier lifestyles, they will not develop the expensive, chronic
diseases that raise health costs sharply, such as diabetes, cancer and heart
disease.
"We are going to see an increase in health-care costs, but the goal has to be to
restrain the rate of increase. Prevention is the key to that," said Bill Benson, a
health-care benefits and policy analyst who advised the CDC on the report.
The report noted that three behaviors -- smoking, poor diet and physical
inactivity -- caused almost 35 percent of U.S. deaths in 2000.
SHARP REGIONAL VARIATION
Those three behaviors often lead to the development of the nation's leading chronic
diseases: heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, they said.
"Having a chronic disease that's well managed doesn't necessarily put a person at
risk for functional decline, but when someone starts developing problems, they are
much more at risk," said Lynda Anderson, a chronic disease and aging expert at the
CDC.
The report looks at how states are faring in terms of elderly health and providing
preventive care such as immunizations and health screenings and taking steps to
prevent falls, a major risk for the elderly.
"You have some regions that are doing extremely well in a lot of areas, and others
that are struggling to get these services to older adults," she said.
Elderly people in Hawaii, for example, are likely to fare better in many key
measures of health. The state ranked best in overall health, mental health, and
disability and had the lowest percent of obese elderly. But Hawaii ranked last in
terms of screening for colorectal cancer.
West Virginia ranked worst in terms of overall health, oral health and disability,
while Kentucky had the highest level of elderly people reporting mental health
problems. Louisiana reported the highest levels of obesity, with more than 25
percent of the elderly population considered obese.
"There are certainly areas that we need to really pay attention to," Anderson said.
She hopes the data will give state policymakers the right tools to start building
prevention programs now, before chronic disease begins.
"We have the opportunity for prevention," Merck's Murray said. "We need to be
serious about it."
Dr. Sears Comment
There will be no magic pills coming to address this growing problem. In fact, the
increase in health-care costs will virtually wipe out all government funding for
new medical research. The solution? Simply follow the Zone Wellness Pyramid of
the Zone Diet plus high-dose fish oil coupled with moderate daily exercise and
stress reduction.