Medicare is a critical lifeline for older adults who need health care as they age. But a new study shows that over the next two decades, out-of-pocket medical costs for older adults are likely to rise significantly, even with access to Medicare.
By 2035, a typical senior will spend one out of every seven dollars of retirement income on medical care, a 40 percent increase from 2012. The study, by Laura Hatfield, Thomas McGuire, and Michael Chernew of the Harvard Medical School and my Urban Institute colleague Melissa Favreault, projected that out-of-pocket cost increases will hit poor and near-poor households hardest.
