As I continue to age, I realize I hope it is! Here's how the "Baby boom" generation is affecting the economy.
Boomers are enriching orthopedic surgeons by replacing their knees and reattaching their rotator cuffs. It's big business for the medical device makers. And it's only getting bigger.
So, if you've got a son or daugher just entering college, now might be the time to have the "big talk" with them. No, not the birds and the bees. The "You might want to go to medical school" talk.
Here's some evidence.
Knee replacements, for instance, are now twice as frequent in boomers as the previously more common hip replacement. That means big volume for orthopedic device makers like Zimmer Holdings, Stryker and Biomet, which started to see a surge six years ago, as boomers hit their mid-fifties. The company is now seeing about 10 percent topline growth.
The main issue is simply: Are these surgeries simply happening earlier than they used to, and thus surgeons are just getting paid earlier in their careers, or will these patients still come back as they continue to age and need care.
Big question. Big money.
With boomers leading the way, sports injuries are now the number two reason for visiting the doctor, second only to the cold. A study finds sports related injuries to boomers in the 1990s rose 33 percent, and they weren't even 60 yet then, as some are today.
My only question is how will this affect the healthcare and insurance industries? Since we're all - whether we like it or not - interconnected in the healthcare system, will what happens to one affect the rest? Only time will tell.
Unti then, I guess it's "play ball!"
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