Medicare beneficiaries will need significant savings to cover health insurance costs in retirement

The Hill's Healthwatch blog: "Medicare beneficiaries of retirement age will need upwards of nearly $150,000 in savings to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses in order to have a 50-50 chance of being financially secure in retirement, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Men 65 and older will need anywhere from $65,000 and $109,000 in savings to cover health costs to have a 50-50 chance of having enough money in retirement, according to the study. If they want to improve their odds to 90%, they will need between $124,000 and $211,000" (Millman, 12/1).

MSNBC: "The costs are likely to be higher for women than men because women tend to live longer, according to the report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Of course, everyone has different health care needs, and no one really knows what their health will be like in retirement, so there are a lot of uncertainties. And although the researchers believe that the recently passed health care reform bill will reduce some costs for retirees, they say out of pocket expenses remain substantial. … For many Americans, just scraping together enough money to pay for daily expenses in retirement is a burden enough. A report released in October found that four in 10 Americans plan to delay retirement because they can't afford to stop working" (Linn, 12/1).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.