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The Affordability Crisis Is Slamming Older Americans

Americans 50 and up are paying more for everything — health care, housing, prescriptions, and care — while Social Security checks fall further behind. A look at what the squeeze looks like for older Americans, and the policy choices driving it.

Download the Report9 pages · PDF
Report

The Affordability Crisis Is Slamming Older Americans.

9 pages · PDF

The topline

2032

The year Social Security is now set to hit insolvency — moved up by last year’s tax law

~10%

Jump in Medicare Part B premiums for 2026, eating a third of the average COLA raise

39%

Rise in home care costs since 2021 — nearly double the rate of inflation

Americans 50 and up are paying more for everything — health care, housing, prescriptions, and care — while Social Security checks fall further behind. A look at what the squeeze looks like for older Americans, and the policy choices driving it. This report pulls together what families across the country are actually paying — and lays out where the system is failing them.

The squeeze on health care isn’t an accident or a force of nature. It’s the product of specific choices about how our economy works and who it works for. Understand the choices, and you can change them.

What we found

  • Last year’s tax law made Social Security and Medicare less solvent, moving the insolvency date up to 2032.
  • The Social Security Administration cut more than 8,000 staffers — its largest workforce reduction on record — driving delays and office closures.
  • A private nursing home room now runs about $128,000 a year, more than double what a typical senior household earns.
  • Roughly one in three older households is now cost-burdened by housing, and some retirees are returning to work just to get by.

A private nursing home room now runs about $128,000 a year — more than double the $60,000 a typical senior household earns.

— AARP long-term care analysis, 2026

Every figure here is sourced and linked to public reporting, government data, and independent analysis. Download the PDF above for the complete report with citations.

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