Most indicators for healthy life expectancy tend to follow the total life expectancy rather closely. Only life expectancy without chronic diseases lags behind, but this indicator has a relatively weak link with disability levels. A regression analysis shows a significant relationship between the use of medicationand the disability status of all Dutch citizens between the ages of 50 and 62. This analysis suggests that the disability level among 69-year-old men would rise to approximately 26 percent if there were no improvements in health. Although this would be about 9 percentage points higher than among 64-year-olds, it would still be substantially lower than the level in the year 2000, when 33 percent of the 55- to 64-year-old men received disability benefits. Yet, if the health status of future 69-year-olds improves – as expected – the share using disability benefits may be substantially closer to that of current 64-year-olds.