The US Health Care System and Lagging Life Expectancy: A Case Study

This report from Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania uses prostate cancer mortality to determine if the lower life expectancy in the United States (as compared to other countries) is in fact caused by the poor performance by the health care system rather than on behavioral factors.

Full report is available

Trends in 401(k) Plans

This report from the American Benefits Council provides the results of a survey on 401(k) plans. Key findings include:

More than 90% of participating organizations offer a 401k plan to employees.

Despite the widely reported drop in account balances, 66% indicated that at least 70%of their eligible employees participated in a 401(k) plan in 2008.

Full report is available

The Future of Living: Independently

This report from the International Longevity Center offers an overview and assessment of independent living through the prism of the culture of aging, living arrangements, healthcare and caregiving and environmental design. It demonstrates that advanced planning and the creation of a meaningful social dialogue on aging are the key factors to success.

Full report is available

Long-Term Care Costs and the National Retirement Risk Index

This brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College discusses research which shows that upwards of 61% of retirees will be unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, and factors in information about the costs of long-term care.

Research brief is available

Taxation of Saving for Retirement: Current Rules and Alternative Reform Approaches

The Urban Institute, in conjunction with the Brookings Institution has issued a report which examines private retirement savings. The report demonstrates that private savings for retirement has declined, leaving people with too little savings. Approaches that may promote more retirement saving are refundable tax credits for low-income workers and rules that encourage or require automatic enrollment in retirement saving plans.

Full report is available

Prescription Drug Estimates for Medicare Beneficiaries, 2005 and 2006

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has issued a statistical brief concerning outpatient prescription drug estimates for Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. (civilian noninstitutionalized population) prior to and after the implementation Medicare Part D.

Statistical Brief is available

Defined Benefit Pensions: Survey Results of the Nation's Largest Private Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors

The U.S. Government and Accountability Office has released a report stating that subscribers to defined benefit pension plans have made revisions to their retirement benefit offerings over the last 10 years, changing benefit formulas; converting to hybrid plans, or freezing some of their plans.

Full report is available

New Statistical Information from Social Security Online & Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Social Security Online has released their Annual Statistical Supplement for 2008. Included in the report is information about: Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance), Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Workers' Compensation, Temporary Disability Insurance, and Veterans' Benefits.
Also available are the monthly Statistics for February 2009

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released two reports with extensive statistics on Medicare Short-Stay Hospitals and Skilled Nursing Facilities.

Medicare in the News

Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times report on a study which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study finds that 20% of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital are readmitted within a month, and 34% return within three months.

Wall Street Journal article

New York Times article

New England Journal of Medicine article and editorial

The New York Times also has a report on the increasing decline in the number of physicians who will accept Medicare, claiming that reimbursement rates are too low and paperwork too much of a hassle.

New York Times article

AARP Bulletin Survey on Retirement Savings: Executive Summary

AARP has released the results of a survey, which examined how Americans are changing their savings and retirement behaviors. The survey finds that most adults have begun to curtail spending and are saving more. Most indicated that they would be spending their 2009 stimulus benefit.

Full report is available

The 20 Cities Where the Most Baby Boomers Will Retire

U.S. News & World Reports has issued a listing of the cities most likely to see dramatic growth in senior populations, as Baby Boomers hit age 65. The information was taken from a report by the Brookings Institute.

U.S. News & World Reports article
Getting Current: Recent Demographic Trends in Metropolitan America from The Brookings Institute

Living Longer, Living Better

The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU FM featured guest Majd Alwan the director of the Center for Aging Services Technologies. They discussed emerging technologies, and how they can be used to make life better, help remove old barriers, and help reduce health care costs for ourselves or our older relatives.

Radio program is available