Combined with findings from the
2016 America’s Health Rankings Senior Report, this analysis raises concerns for the overall health and financial security of current as well as future seniors during retirement. United Health Foundation and the Alliance for Aging Research seek to raise awareness of the opportunities to better support seniors’ whole-person health as well as prompt dialogue on the importance of affordability and transparency in health care costs for both current and future seniors.
The 2016 America’s Health Rankings Senior Report compared middle-aged (50-64 years old) Americans from 1999 to middle-aged Americans as of 2014, and found that the next generation of seniors face serious health challenges, including:
- An increase in the prevalence of diabetes in middle-aged adults by almost 55 percent.
- An increase in the prevalence of obesity in middle-aged adults by 25 percent.
- A decrease in the percentage of middle-aged adults reporting very good or excellent health by 9.4 percent.
