Age Estimates in the National Health Accounts

This article presents historical trends of health spending by age. Personal health care is broken out into seven age groups for 1987, 1996, and 1999. Analysis of trends in health care spending is provided separately for children (age 0-18), working-age adults (age 19-64), and the elderly (age 65 or over). Future impacts of aging are also discussed, including using the historical estimates in a simulation to show only the effect of changing the age mix of the population over the next 50 years.