Washington You might live longer than your parents, but will you be healthier? Not necessarily, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' annual report on the nation's health. In Health, United States, 1999, officials for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that people can now expect to live well into their 80s and 90s-but a majority of those over age 70 reported they suffer from chronic conditions such as arthritis, hypertension and/or diabetes. Many-39 percent-said they use assistive devices, such as hearing aids, canes, walkers, and diabetic and respiratory equipment. And the disabilities, says the report, increase with age, from close to 5 percent for those 70-74 years of age to nearly 22 percent for those 85 and over.

All this means the elderly need health care-and Medicare, at that. "With the arrival of the new millennium comes the reality that in the next 30 years, one out of five people in this country will be over the age of 65," says HHS Secretary Donna Shalala. "That is why it is important now more than ever that we modernize Medicare's benefits and strengthen its finances for years to come."