The looming health crisis

Experts aren't sure what to make of the findings of a new national study on the health of baby boomers. The National Institute on Aging study found that boomers are approaching retirement in worse health than their counterparts 12 years ago. This subset of boomers born between 1948 and 1953 reported having more pain, more alcohol and mental-health problems and more difficulty performing everyday tasks such as carrying more than 10 pounds, climbing stairs and kneeling and crouching, than did their predecessors.

Researchers say two factors may be at work. Unlike the previous generation, which relied upon physicians and other health-care providers to diagnose illness and prescribe treatments and care, baby boomers are inundated with commercial advertisements for prescription drugs. That motivates many to go to the doctor.

The other factor is that many baby boomers are in worse physical condition than their predecessors. One reason is the nature of work has drastically changed. Most people have desk jobs while machines do the heavy lifting. At home, instead of washing dishes by hand or hanging laundry out to dry, appliances do the work. Less physical exertion can mean more obesity, higher rates of diabetes, hypertension and bad cholesterol.

On a personal level, it is difficult to understand, in the face of so many medical breakthroughs and advanced understanding of nutrition and exercise why boomers do not take better care of themselves.

On a societal level, an entire generation reporting worse health than a previous generation portends substantially higher health-care costs for the nation. On Sunday, David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, told CBS television's "60 Minutes" that health-care costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation. Left unchecked, this will result in a substantially larger problem than the Social Security crisis.

By expanding the Medicare program to include prescription drug coverage, the federal government has increased its obligation nearly 40 percent over the next 75 years, Walker says. Another cost multiplier is the fact that people live longer than previous generations.

Over the next two decades, 78 million Americans will be eligible for retirement, meaning the Medicare rolls will swell to unprecedented levels. And if their health is as poor as a sampling of Americans have self-reported in the National Institute of Aging study, the costs may overwhelm the capacity of the government. As it now stands, the United States spends 50 percent more of its economy on health care than any nation worldwide, Walker told "60 Minutes."

It's time Americans demand that Congress address these issues, before costs and needs bankrupt future generations. Boomers could do their part by investing in their health, thereby reducing future burdens.