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Health, United States, 2005

U.S. Has Been Getting Older, But We Haven't Seen Anything, Yet

Starting January 1 a baby boomer will turn 60 every 7.5 seconds

By Tucker Sutherland, editor

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Dec. 9, 2005 – On January 1 baby boomers will begin turning 60 at the rate of about one every 7.5 seconds. They will begin to swell the already booming ranks of older Americans. These post-WWII children have long been the focus of America but we have not seen anything yet that will compare with their impact as they begin to draw from Social Security, use Medicare and swamp the healthcare system with the ailments associated with aging.

A new report was released yesterday by the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that highlights the 55-64 age group, although, it reports on other age groups, too, through 2003.

The boomers can draw on Social Security as early as age 62 and they will begin rolling into Medicare in 2011.

But as these "late boomers" –those now reaching 60 – move up to age 65 and into the senior citizen ranks, there will be replaced by more boomers bulging the 55-65 age group, which will jump from 29 million in 2004 to 40 million by 2014.

The statistics released in Health, United States, 2005, the CDC’s annual report to the President and Congress on the health of all Americans, contains much information. Some has been released before, such as the new estimates of life expectancy, which came out last March. The basic thrust of the report is, as the title implies, about health, which SeniorJournal.com will cover in subsequent reports.

We find it impossible, however, not to first take a close look at the important population shift that will have a gigantic impact on healthcare in America.

From 1950 to 2004 the U.S. population that was 65 years old and up grew twice as fast as the general population and the number age 75 and up grew almost three times as fast.

During those years the total population went from 150 to 294 million, while senior citizens (65+) grew from 12 to 36 million and the elderly (75+) shot up from 4 to 18 million.

From 1950 to 2004 the total population of the United States increased from 150 million to 294 million, representing an average annual growth rate of 1 percent.

During the same period, the population 65 years of age and over grew twice as rapidly and increased from 12 to 36 million persons.

The population 75 years of age and over grew 2.9 times as quickly as the total population, increasing from 4 to 18 million persons.

Projections indicate that the rate of population growth from now to 2050 will be slower for all age groups, and older age groups will continue to grow more than twice as rapidly as the total population.

Between 1950 and 2004, the U.S. population grew much older.

From 1950 to 2004 the population under 18 years of age fell from 31 to 25 percent of the total population, while persons 55–64 years increased from 9 to 10 percent of total persons, persons 65–74 years remained at about 6 percent, and persons 75 years and over increased from 3 to 6 percent of the total.

From 2004 to 2050 it is anticipated that the percent of the population 55 years and over will increase substantially.

The population age 55–64 years of age, featured in this report, is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the adult population during the next 10 years.

In future decades both the population age 55–64 and the population age 65 years and over will increase dramatically as the baby boomers, born in the post-World War II period of 1946 through 1964, age.

By 2029, all of the baby boomers will be age 65 and over.

Between 2004 and 2050 the population 65–74 years of age will increase from 6 to 9 percent of the total and the population 75 years and over will increase from 6 to 12 percent. By 2040 the population 75 years and over will exceed the population 65–74 years of age.

The aging of the population has important consequences for the health care system. As the older fraction of the population increases, more services will be required for the treatment and management of chronic and acute health conditions. Providing health care services needed by Americans of all ages will be a major challenge in the 21st century.

SeniorJournal.com will be reporting more on this impact on health care.

The full report can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm

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