Excerpt From (Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents by Nan Mooney - AARP Bulletin Books

Book Excerpt Not Keeping Up With Our Parents

We are Well Educated Well Employed—and Losing Ground

The souring state of health care has always been an issue for the working poor, but increasingly it’s a middle-class issue, too. More than a third of the uninsured have household incomes over $40,000. Thirty-five percent of households with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 report having trouble paying medical bills and health insurance. And more than a third of those who carry both insurance and medical debt have either college or graduate degrees. It’s not hard to figure out why health care has become such a precious commodity: Family premiums have increased 87 percent since 2000, compared to an 18 percent rise in inflation and a 20 percent rise in wages. As of 2006, only 61 percent of the population had employer-provided insurance, down from 69 percent in 2000—meaning that more and more people are expected to figure out how to cover the rising costs on their own. Featured AARP Member Benefits See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures

Close In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails related to AARP volunteering. Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly receive communications related to AARP volunteering. In the meantime, please feel free to search for ways to make a difference in your community at Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again.