Health and Health Care
In 2011-2013, 43% of noninstitutionalized people age 65 and over assessed their health as excellent or very good (compared to 55% for persons aged 45-64 years). There was little difference between the sexes on this measure, but older African-Americans (not Hispanic) (27%), older American Indians/Alaska Natives (28%), older Asians (33%), and older Hispanics (30%) were less likely to rate their health as excellent or very good than were older Whites (not Hispanic) (47%). Most older persons have at least one chronic condition and many have multiple conditions. In 2011-2013, the most frequently occurring conditions among older persons were: diagnosed arthritis (49%), all types of heart disease (31%), any cancer (25%), diagnosed diabetes (21% in 2009-2012), and hypertension (high blood pressure or taking antihypertensive medication) (71 percent in 2009-2012).
In January-June 2014, 71% of people age 65 and over reported that they received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months and 61% reported that they had ever received a pneumococcal vaccination. About 29% (of persons 60+) reported height/weight combinations that placed them among the obese. Slightly over 41% of persons aged 65-74 and 27% of persons 75+ reported that they engaged in regular leisure-time physical activity. Only 9% reported that they are current smokers and 7% reported excessive alcohol consumption. Only 2% reported that they had experienced psychological distress during the past 30 days.
In 2012, 6.8 million people age 65 and over stayed in a hospital overnight at least one night during the year. Among this group of older adults, 11 percent stayed overnight 1 time, 3 percent stayed overnight 2 times, and 2 percent stayed overnight 3 or more times. This is approximately double the number of overnight hospital stays for the population age 45 to 64 who had 6 percent stay overnight 1 time, 1 percent stay overnight 2 times, and 1 percent stay overnight 3 or more times. Older persons averaged more office visits with doctors in 2012. Among people age 75 and over, 23 percent had 10 or more visits to a doctor or other health care professional in the past 12 months compared to 14 percent among people age 45 to 64.
In January-June 2014, 97% of older persons reported that they did have a usual place to go for medical care and only 2.4% said that they failed to obtain needed medical care during the previous 12 months due to financial barriers.
In 2013 older consumers averaged out-of-pocket health care expenditures of $5,069, an increase of 35% since 2003. In contrast, the total population spent considerably less, averaging $3,631 in out-of-pocket costs. Older Americans spent 12.2% of their total expenditures on health, as compared with 7.1% among all consumers. Health costs incurred on average by older consumers in 2013 consisted of $3,347 (66%) for insurance, $803 (16%) for medical services, $730 (14%) for drugs, and $188 (4.0%) for medical supplies.
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Sources: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data from the January-June 2014; Blackwell DL, Lucas JW, Clarke TC. Summary health statistics for U.S. adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2012. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(260). 2014. National Health Interview Survey; and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, Table 1300. Age of Reference Person: Annual Expenditures Means, Shares, Standard Errors, and Coefficient of Variation.
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