Don’t Worry, We’ll Die Early
by digby
For those who continue to believe that people are unexpectedly living longer than the creators of social security ever imagined or that there will never be enough workers to support all those hundred and twenty year old retirees this article explains why raising the retirement age is actually an important benefit cut for working people.
But this is something I hadn’t considered.
In the next 25 years, the number of Americans living with diabetes will nearly double, increasing from 23.7 million in 2009 to 44.1 million in 2034. [And that’s assuming that obesity rates stay the same, instead of continuing to increase, for those 25 years.)
What does this dire prediction have to do with Social Security? Well, much of the concern about the long-term viability of the Social Security program has been built on the claim that the life expectancy of American workers is rising.
That concern has been debunked quite thoroughly in a number of places. but here’s another reason why it’s a “straw man” in the argument.
In an analysis of the Framingham Heart Study, diabetic men and women age 50 and older died on average 7.5 and 8.2 years earlier, respectively, than those who did not have diabetes.
If the incidence of diabetes is increasing at such a rapid rate, surely that will have an effect on the average lifespan of people who collect Social Security benefits. According to the Center for Disease Control, “Almost 25 percent of the population 60 years and older had diabetes in 2007.”
So relax everyone. The wingnuts are making sure that there will be no education and leadership on these preventive health issues — just look at how they react to Michelle Obama growing a garden. And if they have their way, the entire medical system will collapse. So a huge number of us will die much earlier than we need to. Problem solved. Huzzah!
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