The slowdown in Medicare spending growth for baby boomers and older beneficiaries : changes in Medicare spending levels and growth by age group : 2007–2015 Data brief (Commonwealth Fund) Keohane, Laura M., author. Stewart, Lucas, author. Buntin, Melinda B., author. Health Expenditures -- statistics & numerical data Health Expenditures -- trends Medicare -- economics Medicare -- statistics & numerical data Medicare -- trends In 2011, the first members of the baby boom generation turned age 65 and began entering the Medicare program in large numbers. Baby boomers started joining Medicare during a period of historically low growth in traditional Medicare spending per beneficiary. One common misperception is that Medicare per-beneficiary spending growth would not have slowed without this shift toward a younger Medicare population. By analyzing traditional Medicare spending and enrollment trends by age group from 2007 to 2015, this data brief demonstrates that beneficiary age was not the main driver of low Medicare spending growth. The slowdown in Medicare per-beneficiary spending reflects slower spending growth in all age groups, including older beneficiaries. [New York, N.Y.] : The Commonwealth Fund, December 2019 Commonwealth Fund, issuing body. Technical Report Text Illustrations 1 online resource (1 PDF file (9 pages)) nlm:nlmuid-101761884-pdf 101761884 http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101761884 English United States Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0