Health Insurance Articles
Planning For The Cost Of Health Insurance Coverage After Retirement
2010-03-24
Retirement is meant to be the period of "golden years" in which a person has the ability to travel, work on their home, and generally enjoy life to the fullest. With their working years behind them, kids raised and mortgage paid, the hope is that a life of carefree enjoyment will be the result. Sadly, for many retirees, this is not the case. Health insurance coverage, once reasonably priced and comprehensive, can become excessively expensive. This leads to a choice between a massive premium - up to twice the amount for someone 62 as opposed to 32 - or cutting back so far on health insurance coverage that it is rendered almost useless. Having a plan for health care coverage before retirement can save a great deal of time and money.
The most important thing to do is find a health care plan that fits your needs. Before retirement comes along, call your current insurance provider and ask what their rates are going to look like in five or ten years. While they will not be able to give specific numbers, they should be able to give you a ballpark health insurance quote, based on your age and the current rates in place. If it becomes apparent that your health insurance premiums are going to significantly increase, you have two options. The first is to simply begin saving money for this purpose. A little bit of money put away each month can help pay for continued comprehensive coverage on your health insurance plan, which is far better than a reduction in premiums for a plan that will leave you paying the bulk of the expenses out-of-pocket.
Your other option is to find an insurance company that operates on the basis of merit, previous insurance history and overall health, rather than age. While these are few and far between, a number of companies have recently begun announcing plans to stop charging older customers more for their health insurance plans. This is due to a great deal of public pressure, both from groups such as AARP and the potential creation of a national health insurance plan. This means that it may be possible to find a provider who can offer steady rates both now and on into your retirement years.
Making sure you have adequate health care coverage is essential to enjoying your retirement to its fullest. Concerns about medical bills, premium payments and the possibility that they may increase, can put a damper on even the best laid retirement plans. Ideally, plan for what your post-retirement health care plan will look like now, so that when the time comes, you can simply enjoy the fruits of your labor.
