HOW MUCH DO RETIREES SPEND ON UNCERTAIN HEALTH COSTS?

The brief’s key findings are:

One risk that retirees face is uncertain out-of-pocket health costs, over and above predictable insurance premiums.
The analysis shows that total spending on retirees’ health care – including long-term care and excluding premiums – is high.
But insurers like Medicare and Medicaid cover about 80 percent of the costs.
As a result, 65-year-old households, on average, are estimated to pay $67,000 out-of-pocket over their remaining lifetime.