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Retiree health-care tab: $220,000, says Fidelity at Market Watch, Elizabeth O'Brien, June 12, 2014,

Article:
"It’s that time of year again: time for Fidelity’s annual reminder of just how much it costs to grow old. Okay, maybe they don’t phrase it quite that way. But that’s the subtext of the Fidelity Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate.


iStockRetirement healthcare tally: $220,000
This year’s projection is that couples retiring at age 65 are expected to incur $220,000 in health care costs on average during their retirement years. This figure is unchanged from last year, although that’s hardly a cause for celebration for your average pre-retiree. Most people haven’t saved $220,000 period, much less earmarked that amount for health-care costs alone.

Fidelity’s tally doesn’t include nursing home or other long-term care costs. Medicare does not cover these expenses, and they can be devastating for families. The median annual cost of a private nursing home room is $87,600, according to Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey 2014.

The study assumes that the hypothetical retiring couple has traditional Medicare. The $220,000 total includes monthly premium payments for Parts B and D, plus Medicare cost-sharing requirements–beneficiaries have to pay 20% of most of their doctor bills, along with co-payments and deductibles.

While health care inflation has been moderate in recent years, it may be picking up. Health care spending increased a substantial 9.1% in the first quarter of this year, versus 5.6% in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to estimates by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Next year, Fidelity’s hypothetical couple may be on the hook for even more.

Article at:
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2014/06/12/retiree-health-care-tab-220000-says-fidelity/