https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11579-medicare-costs.pdf lists basic Medicare premiums, not including costs for Medigap plans, Medicare Advantage plans, or various out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, copayments, etc.).
You can check Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans at Find a Medicare plan
This is what DH and I spent in 2019. Weâre on a Medicare Advantage plan, with no additional premium. Obviously, YMMV.
|Insurance|$4,904|
|Copays/deductibles|$3,811|
|Vet bills|$835|
|Dentist|$197|
|OTC Necessities|$772|
|Total Healthcare|$10,519|
Helpful info. AwwâŠis âVet billsâ for pet? (At first I thought maybe military family, but I assume that would be different plan)
Thank you!
Thanks. This is very helpful. DH is 60 and Iâm 55, so we have no idea how Medicare works yet. We have about $8500/year budgeted for healthcare once we are on Medicare, but there was no basis for choosing that numberâŠI think Iâll up it a bit.
Yes, Vet bills was for dogs!!
I usually have BIG dental bills, so 2019 was an âoffâ year for that. As I said, YMMV â even year-to-year.
Our medical this year will be at least $12,500. We are retired and on a high deductible retiree plan from Hâs former employer. He will move from that plan to Medicare in 2 years, and I will follow 15 months later. Itâs actually good that I had surgery this year, because it allowed us to see that we can handle the sort of health care costs we will see as we age. I know that they will probably increase later in life, but I expect that we will spend less on doing fun stuff about then. I had not been too interested in long term health care insurance until recently. After reading some threads on Bogleheads, I am considering it. So much to think about and budget in.
@kelsmom We purchased LTC insurance I believe in 2003, young and healthy (we are now 65 or turn 65 soon). We had guaranteed premiums for 10 years. Now that the costs have gone up and we are past the 10 years (it is state insurance regulated; raising prices based on entire classification cost increases), we have pared down our plan based on some options given to us (we had absolutely âgolden planâ $150/day with 5% increase, UNLIMITED length of time, 90 day waiting) - so we have limited benefits at premiums for each of us with premiums of $1K/year for each of us. Understand, we paid in yearly premiums at that rate over these years, so have âfundedâ their plan. Now if we need LTC beyond the insurance, we will be âself fundingâ the remaining amounts. IMHO if you build up your investments to âself fundâ - in order to purchase LTC insurance at a reasonable rate need to be younger and healthy.
The hope is never to need LTC. Being able to have care come in to the home where people are happiest. Some people help their children get into a larger home or add a wing onto existing home to have multigeneration under one roof and everyone helping everyone. Some go into Assisted Living or Senior Apts. I know where I am happiest and will work to having that if I need help with my care. I also think about a novel âsolutionâ like buy a home near a college campus and have room-mates that can earn their monthly rent with helping me continue to live independently.
LTC can be used for home care too. For my motherâs policy (old/excellent/affordable), the cap was $200/day for nursing home and $100/day for home care. I set up the paperwork to invoke, but we ended up not needing it⊠she passed quickly, as she had hoped would happen.
I had felt that my in laws paid more than they got/will get out of their policies, so I figured I wouldnât want to get LTC. However, it sounds like there are some folks out there selling policies who can advise people well & find a good policy match. I think itâs worth checking into, because if I can get it for a somewhat reasonable price, it might make sense.
âI had felt that my in laws paid more than they got/will get out of their policiesâ - Well that is how insurance works. Some people need to make a lot of claims, others not. If I have excellent health in old age, I wonât regret our decision to purchase some LTC insurance (which admittedly was pretty affordable, with employer discount). It would upset me though if care is eventually needed and some kind of loophole prevents coverage.
We recently had short term home health care for m mom through a national agency. $35/hour, although Iâll bet the ladies were paid less than half that. Pay included commute. Orange County, CA. Even ratcheted up for inflation, that $100/day isnât going to cover round the clock, or even overnight care.
Another thing to worry about is that elder care employees seem to have a relatively high rate of non-vaccination for COVID-19 compared to other health care workers. Refusal to vaccinate appears to be related to low levels of trust in their employers.
One of my mother-in-lawâs older sister had heart bypass surgery back when they had you on a heart-lung machine and you lost some brain cells with the lack of oxygen over some of the surgery period. (The made for TV movie produced by Norman Lear, cousin of the subject âHeart Soundsâ starring MTM and James Garner - true story of Dr Harold Lear and story written by his wife Martha Weinman Lear â patients and family were not really told of the brain damage during surgery). Well this aunt had Alzheimerâs the worst - MIL had it some, but this dear aunt was calm and compliant, but needed 24/7 care, as she would wake up during the night. She had 2 sons and 3 daughters - they were all very close as their dad had been a mean alcoholic and the mom worked her way up from attorney secretary to paralegal - and only the oldest and the youngest daughter were married with kids while the other 3 were single - but the youngest daughter, her H was a carpenter from his home workshop while his wife and several of these siblings were well employed with CS degrees/work. So their mom lived with the youngest DD, and the 4 other siblings took ânightâ duty with the mom at this DDâs home, each having a regular night each week. Every weekend the 4 other siblings took mom home with them. They made it work. Obviously they all lived/worked in a tight geographic area.
Yes home care agencies take about half of what is paid; sometimes can find a home care worker w/o agency. My MIL paid a retired lady who needed to work a monthly amount to do grocery shopping, errands, personal care on the days she was available. It did help prolong MILâs time living at home. This gal was a paid âMeals on Wheelsâ person, and MIL just loved her. MIL paid her well and the gal was so sweet with MIL.
I had disability insurance that paid during my chemo and other cancer treatments/disability, but I lost the partial payments portion of the insurance as it was employment replacement insurance (as disability private insurance is written) and I was a full time home-maker. They really fought me getting the disability payments for âfull disability periodâ (which is 80% or more disabled). If I was working, it would replace earnings when I would have only been back in increments 90%/working 10%, and so on down to 10%/working 90%. Insurance company hired a regional âinvestigatorâ who retired from the FBI (I had a retired government friend who was my advocate at home as I knew H would not be as helpful) - he wrote a report and didnât challenge my disability. I had to threaten to hire a lawyer when they kept stalling and saying I didnât qualify, and the next day they âapproved meâ. Even âgoodâ insurance companies play these games. Medical Oncologist had 3 ratings 8/10 on pain, fatigue, and I believe the 3rd was nausea. Insurance companies play these games because some people just âgive upâ and donât know how to fight them, or they donât have the energy to fight them. Sad.
@ucbalumnus there are so many fearful of the Covid Vaccination - many of minority populations from where we are, but many young people. On TV I heard 89% of elderly are vaccinated. DH had to beg DD2 to get the vaccine (hoping she has done so). I think some may be more inclined to get the vaccine now with this latest variant causing such a spike with hospitalizations; also if their children 12 and older are getting vaccinated before school starting. DD1 is pregnant and is timing things out as she works for the VA Hospital and the 8 week period to getting vaccinated will be after her Sept 2 due date (and with this 3rd baby she will deliver right around due date as she has done so before). Working on son-in-law to getting vaccinated; I believe DD1 will just explicitly tell him to get the vaccine. I donât think DD1 has concerns about having the Covid vaccinations and breast feeding.
I have to wear a mask at work (health care). Glad to retire very soon. Boy has Covid changed all our lives in one way or another. Some very severely, sadly, with life, health, or financially.
There is a type of LTC policy called Hybrid, it is a life insurance/LTC combination, not a life policy with a rider, but an actual LTC plan. I think that is what we will choose. Essentially you have a death benefit amount and then the LTC is double the death benefit. If you make an LTC claim, first you use up the death benefit "fundâ and then you begin using the LTC âfund.â If you die before the death benefit is used up, you collect that.
We knew a few people who died with that type of policy, did not claim on it, by the time they were that bad off, they were closer to death than made sense, financially, to bother collecting, they just left it as a death benefit (obviously, they could pay their bills without the policy.)
You can also buy that joint at some companies(One America and National Guardian) so you and spouse share the funds. The premium is lower than two individual policies.
@somemom yes insurance companies have needed to get creative in order for the buyer to find some value with the purchase.
We should have purchased term insurance and put money away earlier (outside of 401k) into stock accounts; instead we have quite a bit of insurance that is whole life or blended whole life/other - so it has cash value in addition to death benefit; the premiums pretty much are paid by dividends now.
So our DDs have term insurance. We purchased 30 year term policies on both of them once they were 21 and we hold the policies and pay the premiums. We purchased term insurance for my DH later (once we were at single income with me SAHM and then my cancer but I do have enough death benefit, about $350K). Paying on DHâs 30 year term insurance until the term period is up.
SIL/DD1 only purchased 20 year term policy due to going through a friend and they wanted to buy the policy through him; DD1 agreed to have additional 30 year Term Insurance on her H and we pay the premium and she is owner of the policy. Helps me SWAN.
Itâs not a bad idea to obtain a policy at preferred best rates, as soon as you are able, like even 18. A lot of kids do stupid things in college, from freshman 15 to anti-depressants being passed out like candy at some schools, to tobacco, drugs, driving issues like lots of tickets, it can be easy to get knocked out of the preferred best range.
I know one person who was had a series of these kinds of things, then evolved into a health issue, not serious, but wants to wait until they are done with treatment to get a policy. Itâs been well over a decade since they talked about getting that âbest ratesâ policy and they still donât qualify.
My accountant suggested I buy a disability policy, when I was 31. A few months later, I had cancer. At 65, I dropped the plan. But what if I had needed some income?
My insurance man encouraged a hybrid life insurance plan. Term would have been better.
@somemom cannot purchase term insurance (at least from where we looked) below age 21. So we bought some whole life policies, and once we got the term insurance we stopped paying in premiums and have a little cash value on each of those policies and have a death benefit.