A new analysis examining national rates of healthy older adults, 2000-2014 found that the fraction of older Americans who were healthy increased from 42% to 48% in the period, but age- and sex-adjusted rates differed significantly by race/ethnicity, level of educational attainment, and family annual income level. “What explains these growing disparities?” study researchers Kenneth Langa and Matthew Davis ask. “Given that the individuals in our study were all eligible to participate in Medicare, our results suggest that the influence of social, economic and environmental factors extends beyond access to health insurance.”

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