Evidence for Significant Compression of Morbidity in the Elderly U.S. Population

David M. Cutler, Kaushik Ghosh & Mary Beth Landrum
Published Date
Copyright 2014
ISBN 978-0-226-14609-6
Discoveries in the Economics of Aging
CONFERENCE HELD May 9-11, 2013
Book: Discoveries in the Economics of Aging
Book editor: David A. Wise
PUBLISHER: University of Chicago Press
Series: The Economics of Aging

The question of whether morbidity is being compressed into the period just before death has been at the center of health debates in the United States for some time. Compression of morbidity would lead to longer life but less rapid medical spending increases than if life extension were accompanied by expanding morbidity. Using nearly 20 years of data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, we examine how health is changing by time period until death. We show that functional measures of health are improving, and more so the farther away from death the person is surveyed. Disease rates are relatively constant at all times until death. On net, there is strong evidence for compression of morbidity based on measured disability, but less clear evidence based on disease-free survival.

Download Purchase Book

Related

Topics

Health, Education, and Welfare
Health
Labor Economics
Demography and Aging

Projects

Center for Aging and Health Research

Published From Paper

Evidence for Significant Compression of Morbidity In the Elderly U.S. Population
- Working Paper
The question of whether morbidity is being compressed into the period just before death has been at the center of...

More from NBER

In addition to working papers, the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter, the NBER Digest, the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability, the Bulletin on Health, and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship — as well as online conference reports, video lectures, and interviews.

2024, 16th Annual Feldstein Lecture, Cecilia E. Rouse," Lessons for Economists from the Pandemic" cover slide
2024, 16th Annual Feldstein Lecture, Cecilia E. Rouse," Lessons for Economists from the Pandemic"
  • Feldstein Lecture
Cecilia Rouse, president of the Brookings Institution and a professor at Princeton University, who chaired the Council...
2024 Methods Lecture, Susan Athey, "Analysis and Design of Multi-Armed Bandit Experiments and Policy Learning"
2024 Methods Lecture, Susan Athey, "Analysis and Design of Multi-Armed Bandit Experiments and Policy Learning"
  • Methods Lectures
Background Materials:backgroundAthey, Susan, Undral Byambadalai, Vitor Hadad, Sanath Kumar Krishnamurthy, Weiwen Leung...
2024, Economics of Social Security Panel, "Earnings Inequality and Payroll Tax Revenues"
2024, Economics of Social Security Panel, "Earnings Inequality and Payroll Tax Revenues"
  • Panel Discussion