Health costs will surge without better prevention

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The cost of caring for aging Americans will add 25 percent to the nation's health care bill by 2030 unless people act now to stay healthy, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

Currently, 80 percent of Americans 65 or older have at least one chronic disease that could lead to premature death and disability, CDC researchers said.

The report, The State of Aging and Health in America 2007, projects that by 2030, 71 million Americans will be over 65, accounting for 20 percent of the U.S. population, up from 10 to 11 percent now.

With the cost of caring for older Americans at three- to five-times greater than care for younger adults, CDC researchers believe policymakers and individuals should take steps to help aging adults forestall chronic disease.

"Given the demographics ... the economic impact on healthcare will be enormous," said Dr. Richard Murray, a vice president at Merck & Co. Inc., whose foundation funded the study.

If people adopt healthier lifestyles, they will not develop the expensive, chronic diseases that raise health costs sharply, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

"We are going to see an increase in health care costs, but the goal has to be to restrain the rate of increase. Prevention is the key to that," said Bill Benson, a health care benefits and policy analyst who advised the CDC on the report.

The report noted that three behaviors -- smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity -- caused almost 35 percent of U.S. deaths in 2000.