Insurance For Over 65

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Greg Nicholaides

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Milliman Reveals Health Care Costs for 65-Year-Olds Retiring in 2024

PLANSPONSOR – July 30, 2024

Remy Samuels

A 65-year-old couple will need $395,000 in combined savings to afford the cost of certain Medicare plans in retirement, according to the Milliman Retiree Health Cost Index. 

The average healthy 65-year-old retiring in 2024 is projected to spend a significant amount on health care over the course of their remaining lifetime, according to the 2024 Milliman Retiree Health Cost Index. 

The two most common health care coverage options chosen by Medicare-eligible retirees are Medicare Advantage and Original Medicare with Medigap plus Part D. A healthy 65-year-old man retiring in 2024 with a MAPD (Medicare Advantage with Rx Drug) plan is projected to spend $128,000 on health care in his remaining lifetime, and a woman with the same coverage is projected to spend $147,000 in her remaining lifetime, according to Milliman. 

Health Care Costs on the Rise 

To afford these costs, Milliman projected that a man with a MAPD plan needs to have at least $86,000 in savings and a woman with the same coverage needs at least $96,000 in savings. The Milliman Index projected that this is the amount of savings (net of taxes) needed at age 65 to pay a retiree’s remaining lifetime health care “total spend,” assuming an investment return of 3% per year.  

For a 65-year-old man retiring in 2024 with Medicare plus Medigap plus Part D, the costs are even higher, as they are projected to spend approximately $281,000 on health care expenses throughout retirement and a woman with the same coverage is projected to spend $320,000. 

The difference in cost is largely because women on average live longer than men, according to Milliman. The retired man was projected to live until 88, and the woman until 90, in Milliman’s calculation.  

The cost of health care in retirement will also depend on several other factors, Milliman explained, such as when someone retires, where they live during retirement and what Medicare benefit plan they choose. The cost of Medicare Advantage, Medigap and Part D plans can vary greatly by state. For example, in Florida, a 65-year-old retiring in 2024 with a lifespan of 88 can be expected to spend upwards of $340,000 on health care, as opposed to around $260,000 to $280,000 in Texas. 

Retirees have less control over factors such as health status or how long they will live – both of which are primary drivers of how much their health care will cost.  

Milliman also measured the savings needed for a healthy 65-year-old couple in 2024 compared with 2023. A hypothetical couple retiring in 2024 will need to save approximately $7,000 more than they would have in 2023 if they have Original Medicare plus Medigap and Part D coverage, and $8,000 less if they have a MAPD plan, all else being equal.  

How Health Care Costs Have Changed 

As a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, there were significant changes to Medicare Part D Rx Drug coverage in 2024. Out-of-pocket expenses were significantly reduced because of the law’s elimination of cost sharing in the catastrophic phase of insurance coverage, but as a result, this increased the plan liability, driving an increase in premiums.  

In addition, there has been continued growth in spending on major brand name drugs like GLP-1s – which includes medications like Ozempic and Wegovy – even when only covered for diabetes and not obesity, as well as SGLT2s, that slow heart failure, and certain autoimmune drugs. These costs also contributed to increasing premium and out-of-pocket costs, and the trend is expected to continue over the next couple of years, according to Milliman. Higher prescription drug costs have also increased short-term health care cost expectations over the next couple years.  

Impact of Retiring Earlier vs. Later 

Most people cannot apply for Medicare until age 65, so retiring early means health care costs can be much higher for the individual. For example, if someone retires five years before they are eligible, at age 60, they can expect to pay 56% more for health care expenses if enrolled in Original Medicare plus Medigap (Plan G) plus Part D, and 86% more for health care expenses if they enroll in a MAPD plan than they would if they waited until age 65 to enroll. 

Conversely, delaying retirement allows retirees to boost savings and continue earning income and employer-sponsored benefits like health care. Retiring at age 70, for example, would allow a retiree to pay 29% less on health care expenses than if they retired at 65 and are enrolled in Original Medicare plus Medigap plus Part D. They would pay 30% less for health care with a MAPD plan. 

“Healthcare expenses are an important and sometimes overlooked component of retirement planning,” said Robert Schmidt, a Milliman principal and co-author of the Retiree Health Cost Index, in a statement. “By taking a realistic look at their health status and healthcare expenses, and then budgeting accordingly, people can take steps to enjoy a less stressful, financially healthier retirement.”

Greg Says is aware that most Medicare beneficiaries find plan option terminology a bit confusing.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at InsuranceForOver65 for help in understanding your Medicare plan options especially as we head into the Annual Election Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7) during which you can change plans for 2025.

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Moving Off the Couch Brings Healthy Aging: Study Finds Benefit

By Ernie Mundell – HealthDay News

Published Jun 11, 2024

Key Takeaways

  • Shortening the time you spend sitting in front of the TV could pay big dividends in terms of healthy aging
  • As rates of exercise and healthy sleep replaced sitting, the odds for living to 70 or beyond in a healthy state rose
  • Folks often do other unhealthy stuff — eating junk food, being isolated — when they’re watching TV

It’s tempting to binge-watch TV, but yet another study finds that when it comes to healthy aging, the less time on your sofa, the better.

The study looked at 20 years of data on more than 45,000 people taking part in the Nurses’ Health Study. All were at least age 50 in 1992 and free of chronic disease when they entered the study.

Researchers tracked lifestyle habits like time sitting at work, home and watching television, as well as their hours at home or work spent standing or walking at home. All that data was compared to information on how healthily (or not) they had aged over time.

What defined “healthy aging”? According to the team from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, it meant living to be 70 plus having no major chronic diseases, no impaired memory, and overall good physical and mental health.

One activity — watching TV while sitting — seemed particularly unhealthy, the researchers found.

“Replacing television time with light physical activity, moderate to vigorous physical activity, or sleep (in participants with inadequate sleep) were associated with better odds of healthy aging,” wrote a team led by Dr. Molin Wang, an associate professor of medicine in the department of epidemiology at Harvard.

More specifically, every hour per day where sedentary TV watching was replaced by even “light” physical activity in the home (for example, routine housework) upped a person’s odds of living to a healthy 70 or beyond by 8%.

If that hour of TV watching was replaced by “moderately vigorous” physical activity (for example, a workout), the odds of healthy aging rose by 28%, the study found.

Even folks who got less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night gained a benefit in healthy aging if they got an extra hour of sleep each day instead of an hour spent watching TV from their sofa.

The findings were published June 11 in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Speaking with CNN, Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, said TV watching appears to be a particularly unhealthy pursuit — and not just because you’re not moving around.

“When people sit in front of TV, it usually brings all these other co-morbid activities, like eating junk food, TV dinners, failing to connect with others, and it even can interrupt sleep,” Freeman noted. He wasn’t involved in the new study.

And exercise — any way you can get it and for any length of time — can turn all that around. It’s “truly an unbelievable way to reduce cardiovascular risk and blood pressure,” Freeman said.

“My very strong suggestion is you should consider at work getting a standing desk if you can, or even a treadmill desk if you’re able and you have the space,” Freeman said. “If you’re sitting down for more than 30 minutes at a time, in my book, that’s probably too long, and you really want to try to move a little bit.”

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6 Tips for Helping Seniors Live Independently

Explore Tips To Empower Aging Parents For a Healthier, More Independent Lifestyle

Feb. 28, 2024

One of the challenges of getting older is finding ways to maintain one’s independence, even as physical and cognitive abilities start to decline. For those of us with aging parents, we often have to balance giving them the support they require with helping them be as independent as possible – for as long as possible. This can not only enhance our parents’ mood and self-esteem, but it can also extend their physical and cognitive health by helping them maintain the ability to do daily tasks.

Here are six tips for helping your parent feel more independent.

1. Utilize their strengths

Rather than focus on your parents’ limitations, consider all the activities they’re still able to do, both physically and cognitively.

“Too often, we define getting older by all the negatives – the things we aren’t able to do anymore or the faculties that are in decline,” says Catherine Schneider, Director of Memory Care Operations and Programming at Atria Senior Living. “But if instead we start by recognizing all the things our parent can still do, we can view their situation in a more positive light.”

Schneider suggests highlighting the attributes that can improve as we age. For example: though we often think of post-retirement aging as a decline in cognitive ability, this is an oversimplification.

“Cognitive ability waxes and wanes over the course of our lives,” she says, “and certain abilities can actually increase in our senior years, such as crystallized intelligence, emotional intelligence and vocabulary. Finding ways to engage your parent’s cognitive strengths can help keep these abilities sharp.”

2. Help your parent find purpose

Older adults often feel a lack of purpose – they’ve retired from their careers; their kids are grown, and they have more time to themselves without a clear sense of how they should spend it. This can lead to feelings of uselessness and depression, but there are many ways for seniors to renew their sense of purpose.

Mentoring provides an excellent opportunity for older adults to share their knowledge and experience in a way that can be socially and psychologically rewarding – friendships with younger people can reduce loneliness and boost mood and energy levels.

Similarly, volunteer work provides seniors with a chance to give back to their communities. They can also devote more time to hobbies and passion projects or take classes to learn new skills like painting or playing an instrument. Having a mix of familiar and novel activities can stimulate an older adult’s brain and help them feel engaged and fulfilled.

3. Optimize their living environment

Your parents will feel more independent and autonomous if they can navigate their living space with minimal difficulty. Anything you can do to reduce the risk of falls, remove clutter and improve accessibility to everyday items will go a long way toward making them feel more comfortable.

“If the built environment around them is not safe or not conducive to their mental and physical state, they’re not going to feel confident moving around in it,” Schneider says. “It’s important to look for ways to improve their living space by doing things like putting handrails in the bathroom or getting rid of rugs that are easy to trip over.”

It can also help to incorporate technology into their living space to make things more convenient. For example, smart speakers make it easier to adjust the thermostat, hear a podcast or listen to music through voice commands.

4. Don’t offer to help unless they really need it

Continuing to do a variety of everyday tasks – even if they are challenging – is one way your parents can feel more independent.

“If they can still do things like prepare meals or get in and out of a car by themselves, don’t interfere or hover over them,” Schneider says. “It may be tempting to help them and get things done faster, but the longer they’re able to do these tasks on their own, the more independent they’ll feel.”

We tend to lose the skills we don’t use, so in addition to the confidence boost your parents will get from doing things themselves, they’ll also be able handle everyday tasks longer.

5. Offer choices

Older adults can lose their autonomy faster when their ability to make choices is restricted, so it’s important to include them in the decision-making process whenever possible. Rather than dictate their decisions or daily routines, make it a habit to offer your parents some options and let them choose what they want.

For example, instead of telling your parents you’ll be serving them eggs for breakfast, provide them with several options to choose from. This gives them a chance to exercise some control over the process. However, too many choices can be overwhelming, so rather than asking them, “What do you want for breakfast?” you could ask, “Would you like eggs, oatmeal or cereal for breakfast?”

6. Support your parent’s independence in assisted living – but don’t smother it

Moving to an assisted senior living community doesn’t mean your parents have to surrender their independence. In fact, the transition may provide them with opportunities to explore their independence in new ways.

“Assisted living communities offer classes, programs and social events that can help seniors be more engaged and autonomous than they might be on their own,” Schneider says. “What’s important is that older adults find the most beneficial environment for their personal situation.”

Sometimes the best way to help a parent feel independent is by giving them time and space to settle into their new home without “helicoptering” over them. Experts estimate that adjusting to assisted living can take anywhere from a couple weeks to six months, depending on the individual. Be mindful of balancing emotional support for your parents with allowing them to maintain their independence during the transition.

By checking in with your parents and supporting their needs, you can help foster their independence – and in turn promote a healthy outlook and overall well-being.

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THE COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALCOHOL & DEMENTIA CARE

written by Richard Bitner May 3, 2024

As any memory care provider can tell you, there’s nothing simple about dementia care, treatment, and diagnosis. Certain factors, however, can make dementia care even more complicated than usual.

Alcohol is a perfect example. Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of dementias such as Alzheimer’s, but it can also lead to brain damage that mimics symptoms of dementia. This results in countless cases where dementia is misdiagnosed as alcohol-related brain damage, or where alcohol-related brain damage is misdiagnosed as dementia.

The situation is complicated further by the effects of alcohol intoxication, which itself mimics symptoms of dementia. As a result, family members and friends can easily misinterpret signs of drunkenness as a sign of dementia or misinterpret signs of a dementia as signs of drunkenness.
If you suspect that a loved one’s use of alcohol is masking or contributing to cognitive decline, you might be confused about whether they need medical attention, addiction treatment, dementia care, or a combination of the above. Here’s a closer look at what may be causing your loved one’s cognitive difficulties, along with next steps you can take.

Understanding Alcohol & Dementia

Heavy consumption of alcohol is linked with a host of health problems, including cognitive impairment and decline. From a dementia care perspective, three conditions are particularly concerning: alcohol-related dementia, alcohol-related brain damage, and Korsakoff’s syndrome. These are conditions that include dementia or that are easily mistaken for dementia.

  • Heavy alcohol consumption is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s and other dementias, such as vascular dementia. Alcohol is linked with compromised cardiovascular health, which is a major risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease and the need for dementia care. Individuals who drink heavily also tend to lead unhealthy lifestyles in terms of diet and exercise, which further increases the risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
  • Alcohol also increases the risk of brain damage. Brain injuries, for example, are more common among heavy drinkers, who are more likely to suffer falls and get into fights. In these situations, alcohol can indirectly lead to long-term brain damage. Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) can also occur directly. Alcohol is a toxin which, over time, causes nerve damage and reduction in grey matter. The result is sometimes referred to as alcoholic dementia, though it isn’t technically considered a type of dementia. Despite this, many dementia care providers include ARBD as one of the conditions for which they provide care.
  • Korsakoff’s syndrome is a common condition among individuals who suffer from alcohol dependency, though less common than alcoholic dementia. Korsakoff’s is caused by a lack of thiamine, also known as vitamin B1. Insufficient levels of thiamine can result in damage to important brain centers, including regions of the brain responsible for short-term memory. Korsakoff’s syndrome most typically occurs after Wernicke’s encephalopathy, which is triggered in alcoholics by sudden withdrawal from alcohol. As with ARBD, many dementia care providers will cover Korsakoff’s syndrome as part of their services.

So how can you tell if your loved one is developing dementia, alcohol-related brain damage, or Korsakoff’s syndrome? One sign may be the age at which they begin to show signs of decline. Signs of ARBD typically occur before the age of 55, whereas most cases of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia occur after the age of 65.

Another sign may be the type of cognitive difficulties your loved one is experiencing. In cases of Korsakoff’s syndrome it’s usually limited to short-term memory and the ability to make new memories, whereas ARBD and dementia typically have a wider range of cognitive and behavioral symptoms.

Ultimately, the best way to tell is to have your loved one examined by a medical professional. In cases of dementia or brain damage, it’s critical that you seek advice from medical experts, who will provide advice about whether to seek out dementia care, emergency treatment, and/or addiction treatment.

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More Older Americans Worried About Medicare’s Future: Survey

BY TARA SUTER – 06/05/24

More older Americans are concerned about the future of Medicare, according to a survey published Wednesday.

Seventy-four percent of Americans aged 50-64 say they are “extremely worried or worried” about Medicare not being “available when you become eligible to receive it,” according to the West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America.

That figure is up 13 points from 2022. when 61 percent of the same age group said they were concerned about Medicare availability when they are eligible for it.

Seventy-three percent of Americans across all age groups surveyed said they are “extremely worried or worried” about Medicare’s availability when they are eligible for it, up 6 points from 2022. 

“Threats to Medicare and Social Security loom large, and people are worried policymakers won’t do enough to protect and strengthen them,” Timothy Lash, the president of West Health, said in a press release accompanying the report.

“These safety net programs are part of the fabric of aging that millions of older Americans rely upon, so any potential disruption or question mark around them is cause for alarm and deserving of greater attention and action from policymakers,” Lash continued.

The financial outlook for Medicare’s funding has improved in the last year, with its funding to pay all costs of hospital services of older and disabled beneficiaries not forecast to run out until 2036, compared to the previous year’s estimate that it would run out in 2029.

“The fact that such a large percentage of U.S. adults observe little prioritization of issues affecting older Americans underscores the extent to which such prioritization could influence voting preferences, particularly among those already eligible for the federal safety net programs and those that will be soon,” Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, said in the release.

The West Health-Gallup survey was conducted between Nov. 13, 2023, and Jan. 8, featuring 5,184 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level when response percentages are about 50 percent. When response rates are about 10 percent or 90 percent, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1 percentage point. Age subgroups have higher margins of error, commonly ranging from 3 percentage points to 5 percentage points.

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Greg Says suggests that all voting age citizens put pressure on Congress to pass legislation to extend the life of Social Security and Medicare rather than continuing to “kick the can” down the road.  This will likely mean increasing the eligibility age, increasing payroll deductions, and reducing benefits all of which will require some sacrifice for beneficiaries and some courage for our elected representatives.