That deal was made in 1965. Today her lawyer might have had second thoughts, if he’d been paying attention to recent U.S. statistics. According to the New England Centenarian study, “centenarians are the fastest growing segment of our population,” followed by those older than age 85.13 In fact, by 2002, 4.6 million adults 85 years of age and older, a group known as the “oldest old,” lived in the United States. By 2030 this number is expected to grow to 9.6 million.1 Ninety percent of the study participants “were functionally independent the vast majority of their lives up until [an] average age of 92 years,” but in general, the need for health care corresponds to age: while 5% of 65-year-olds need long-term care, 50% of those who reach age 90 are in need of it.2