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Old 05-23-2012, 08:01 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Mulligan View Post
I assume the 50% cost payment is in part items such as nursing home care and dental aren't included in the medicare health plan? And maybe they live in a high cost area for insurance? A study a few years back had 5% of the population consuming almost 50% of the healthcare costs. Concerning elderly people over 65, the top 5% consumed 34% of all medical costs. So if you are fortunate to not be in those small population segments and don't get gouged in health insurance, it is quit possible that your costs are reasonable. Out of curiosity I went on ehealth to price a premium in my state for a 62 year old, and it was only $176 for a $5500 deductible. That is only a little more than double what I am paying now at 47. I am certainly not saying we have a great or cheap system. But many people I don't think will face nearly the high costs that some people unfortunately have.
Be wary of quotes on ehealth, as the premium costs they show appear to be based on a person who has no preexisting conditions and takes no medications. The actual premium cost you will be charged may go up substantially once you complete an application detailing every doctor appointment, injury, or surgery you've had in the last 10 years, as well as every prescription medication you took during that time (and/or currently take).

Ehealth gave me a premium quote for a slightly lower rate than yours for an Aetna policy with a $5K deductible (for a 52-year-old non-smoking female). I got a nasty shock once I completed my application and it went to underwriting. The actual premium rate I ended up with was a little over $600 per month. I thought I was in fairly good health -- no high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease -- and I'm about 15 pounds under the "normal" weight for my height. The only prescription medication I take is an antidepressant. Yet, as the underwriter explained to me, it was very concerned about my weight, hence the higher premium. (Gee, I thought my genetic ability to eat what I want without gaining weight was a good thing, but what do I know?) Also to my surprise, the insurer considered that taking ANY prescription medication regularly means that one has a preexisting condition.

So, anyone who's shopping for medical insurance before attaining Medicare eligibility should take the quotes from ehealth as a "floor"; it's likely that once you've given the insurer your medical history, the price will be higher.
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Old 05-23-2012, 08:20 PM   #22
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$250,000 in investable assets does not qualify as rich IMHO.
I had a good chuckle over this one. Of course, it's like defining old. What's old? It depends on how old you are...
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Old 05-24-2012, 01:22 PM   #23
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I had a good chuckle over this one. Of course, it's like defining old. What's old? It depends on how old you are...
Congress may well consider having $250,000 investable income as "Rich" since they need to get tax $ somewhere. Most voters would go along with it since most don't have nearly that much, so obviously "those" people "must" be RICH.

I just hope that Roth IRA's will be considered "untouchable" for tax purposes for the remainder of my life, but I wouldn't count on it.
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Old 05-24-2012, 01:37 PM   #24
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What's old? It depends on how old you are...
Older than dirt?
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Old 05-24-2012, 03:46 PM   #25
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Congress may well consider having $250,000 investable income as "Rich" since they need to get tax $ somewhere. Most voters would go along with it since most don't have nearly that much, so obviously "those" people "must" be RICH.

I just hope that Roth IRA's will be considered "untouchable" for tax purposes for the remainder of my life, but I wouldn't count on it.
The article talks about $250k in investable assets... not investable income.
Big difference. One is net worth, one is cash flow.

It gets so confusing figuring out if I'm supposed to be rich or not. I have more than $250k in assets - but significantly less income per year.
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Old 05-24-2012, 06:28 PM   #26
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So what are people figuring will be their medical costs after medicare starts?

I'm just guessing maybe the same as our current costs before medicare kicks in (next year for us). Maybe medicare will need adjustments to make it financially solvent into the longer term, i.e. premiums will rise.
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Old 05-24-2012, 07:23 PM   #27
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Old 05-25-2012, 01:47 AM   #28
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Please can you elaborate on this ?
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I think most people wonder why the doctors don't follow their patient's medical directives...
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Old 05-25-2012, 12:53 PM   #29
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Please can you elaborate on this ?
Advance medical directives seem perfectly clear to me. Yet everyone has a story about a "Do not resuscitate" or a medical directive that the doctor ignores for what they deem to be the best of reasons. They resuscitate or otherwise prolong the patient's life against their written wishes.
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Old 05-25-2012, 02:05 PM   #30
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I figure that $250,000 is a minimum a couple should set aside to self-insure for long term care needs and/or additional medical expenses associated with a late life illness. In other words, assume that when one spouse dies, the "nest egg" might be depleted by that amount, so hopefully the surviving spouse can still live off the remainder.
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Old 05-25-2012, 02:33 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by Lsbcal View Post
So what are people figuring will be their medical costs after medicare starts?

I'm just guessing maybe the same as our current costs before medicare kicks in (next year for us). Maybe medicare will need adjustments to make it financially solvent into the longer term, i.e. premiums will rise.
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I figure that $250,000 is a minimum a couple should set aside to self-insure for long term care needs and/or additional medical expenses associated with a late life illness.
And (quite a bit) more for early retirees as I understand it.
Quote:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you're retiring this year [2010] you will need $250,000 in savings to cover your family's medical expenses during your retirement, Fidelity Investments announced on Thursday.

That's up just more than 4% over last year and a 56% spike compared to 2002, when Fidelity first issued its Retiree Health Care Estimate.

Each year Fidelity forecasts what a U.S. couple retiring at age 65 would need to cover their health care expenses during retirement, presuming they qualify for Medicare and do not have an employer-sponsored plan.
Retiring couples will need a quarter million for health care - Mar. 25, 2010
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Old 05-26-2012, 12:56 AM   #32
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Thank you for clarifying. CPR/DNR, palliative care etc. are significant ethical matters. There are horror stories in every profession but I felt your statement "I think most people wonder why the doctors don't follow their patient's medical directives" may be an over-generalization. I don't want people to think that "most"doctors do not follow their patients' medical directives, which I know is not the case (especially when the patients' wishes are in writing and in their charts). Sorry for highjacking the thread...
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Originally Posted by Nords View Post
Advance medical directives seem perfectly clear to me. Yet everyone has a story about a "Do not resuscitate" or a medical directive that the doctor ignores for what they deem to be the best of reasons. They resuscitate or otherwise prolong the patient's life against their written wishes.
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