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CRR Releases Issue Brief on Older Adults Understanding of Healthcare Risks
On January 22, 2025, the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College released its issue brief, Do Older Adults Understand Healthcare Risks, and Do Advisors Help? CRR indicated that healthcare costs are significant risks for retirees. Although medical risks for individuals may be well-insured, retirees are facing rising costs of medical care that may erode the quality of insurance and affect premiums that will consume an increasing portion of their income over time.
The key findings include:
- Since uninsured healthcare costs in retirement may be excessive, older households should understand the potential risks.
- According to a recent survey, many retirees underestimate healthcare needs and are not informed about the costs of medical or long-term care services.
- Although financial advisors have a better understanding of healthcare needs and costs, households with advisors do not appear to be better informed than those without advisors.
- Therefore, many retirees may not protect themselves against unexpected health situations that would impact making challenging changes to deal with the situations when they occur.
According to the brief, “The uninsured components of healthcare costs in retirement can be substantial, and older households need to have an accurate perception of these risks to plan their spending appropriately.”
The brief is available here.