States report: Health care crisis looms for seniors

Nearly 8 in 10 are coping with at least one chronic condition

An aging nation that’s living longer but with growing rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases points to an emerging health care crisis, says a report out Tuesday that analyzes seniors’ health state-by-state.

Just two years ago, the first Baby Boomers turned 65, setting in motion a “tremendous demographic shift in the U.S. population,” says physician Rhonda Randall, senior adviser to the United Health Foundation, which commissioned the report.

It focuses on 34 measures of senior health, including physical inactivity, obesity, self-reported health status and poverty. The data used is from government agencies and private research groups.

People use more health care as they age, but seniors today are “much more likely to live sicker for a longer period of time,” Randall says. Among challenges the report cites:

One in eight Americans are 65 or older, and that is projected to grow to one in five in 2030, the year all Baby Boomers will have turned 65, according to Census data. By 2050, seniors will make up 25% of the U.S. population. Those 85 and older are projected to increase from 5.8 million in 2010 to 8.7 million in 2030.

Nearly eight in 10 seniors are living with at least one chronic health condition; 50% have two or more, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. About 25% are obese; 20% have been diagnosed with diabetes; more than 70% have heart disease, nearly 60% have arthritis, a leading cause of disability.

Adults 65 and older spend nearly twice as much as those 45 to 64 on health care yearly; they spend three to five times more than all adults younger than 65, the CDC says.

The report offers “a heads-up to (health care) providers, and a real heads-up to policymakers,” says Jennie Chin Hansen, CEO of the American Geriatrics Society and author of a commentary in the report. Among other data cited:

Alaska (21%) has the lowest percentage of seniors with multiple chronic health conditions, followed by Wyoming (22%) and Montana (23%). Highest: Florida (44%), New Jersey (43%) and Delaware (40%).

Nationally, 30% of seniors in fair or better health report doing no physical activity or exercise besides their job in the last 30 days. The most inactive states: Tennessee (41.3%) and West Virginia (41.2%).

Obesity rates among ages 50-64 increased 8% from 1995 to 2010. Overall, 25% of adults 65 and older are obese; percentages range from 17% in Hawaii to 30% in Michigan.

An average of 9% of adults 65 and older live in poverty, which is associated with higher rates of chronic diseases and shorter life expectancy. Highest percentage: Mississippi, 14%.