Meet the superstars of aging: CENTENARIANS

Not expensive Medicare data analyzed by KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that although Medicare spending per capita increased with age, the spending topped out at the age of 96, gradually declining for those living longer. For noncentenarians, inpatient hospital care was the largest proportion of the spending. Petermann says that last year, one of her centenarian patients went to the hospital for the first time in five years; the patient had a heart disease issue that needed medical attention.