AARP Reports on 50+ America: Health Care Indicators and Income on the Decline for Mid-Life and Older Americans

State of the Union and AARP’s ‘State of 50+ America’

Source: AARP Press Center | January 30, 2006

As the nation reviews the State of the Union, AARP is issuing its latest annual “State of 50+ America” report. The report found a one year decline in key health care indicators and lower family income for Americans age 50 and above.

The President is expected to emphasize the need to make health care more affordable. According to AARP Director of Policy and Strategy John Rother, the attention is timely— more than 6.6 million 50 to 64 year olds are uninsured. “The AARP report found health care costs are staggering for more Americans,” Rother said. “The percentage of 50+ households which can not even afford medical care they need today is growing,” he added. The 50+ report found that five of seven health care indicators declined over a one year period.

“Economists are reporting a growing economy. But AARP has found that real family income has not increased since the late 1990s for mid-life and older Americans, and over the last year family income for the age group has declined,” Rother said.

Although the year-to-year changes are slight, AARP continues to be concerned about the cumulative effect of rapidly rising health care costs, the uncertain future of pensions, and threats to the guaranteed benefit of Social Security that the majority of Americans rely on as their primary source of retirement income.

Rother noted that health care now consumes 16 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. While the burden has been shifting to the individual to absorb the cost increases for health care, wages and family incomes are not keeping up with health care’s skyrocketing costs, he said.

Key “State of 50+ America” findings Include:

• In addition to health care affordability, the percent of 50+ Americans reporting their health as excellent or very good — a widely-used measure of health — declined slightly between 2003 and 2004 from 47.5 percent to 47 percent.
• Another negative was the percent of individuals who were not obese or overweight: the percent declined from 39.7 to 35.0 between 1998 and 2004.
• Real median family income decreased 1.5 percent in the most recent one-year period.
• About half (50.1 percent) of the population age 62 and older received more than half of their income from sources other than Social Security in 2004, a slight increase from the previous year.
• More than half of Americans age 50+ (55 percent) said that housing costs are a larger share of their budget today compared to five years ago.

“The data reflect and validate the uncertainty that so many 50+ Americans feel today,” said Rother. “The task ahead for Congress and policymakers is to avoid policies that put 50+ Americans’ economic and health security at any further risk, to shore up the programs and policies that protect them from falling into poverty and to enhance opportunities for boomers to provide for themselves as they approach their retirement years.”

The indicators were derived from well-established government surveys or from the “AARP Aging Indicators Study, 2005”.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. We produce AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our website, www.aarp.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.