When factoring for inflation, an average 65-year-old couple's annual expenses at age 85 will be 170 percent higher than in their first year of retirement. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Baby boomers planning to fund retirement can expect annual health care costs to inflate at a rate that will outpace general inflation, and consequently, cost of living increases to Social Security benefits.
HealthView Services, a provider of health care cost-projection software to the financial services industry, is projecting retiree health expenses to increase at a 4.22 percent rate annually going forward.
That is down from last year's projection of 5.47 percent.
The lower inflation forecast is owed largely to reduced spending on prescription drugs, as providers move more to generic alternatives, according to HealthView's 2018 Health Care Costs Data Report.
Nonetheless, future retirees can expect substantial Medicare premium payments, supplemental insurance premiums, and other out of pocket costs. The average healthy 65-year-old couple retiring this year will pay $363,946 in out-of-pocket health care costs over the course of retirement.
When factoring for inflation, that couple's annual expenses at age 85 will be 170 percent higher than in their first year of retirement.
If a couple narrowly outlives today's mortality tables by two years, they will incur another $37,423 in today's dollars.
Medicare Part B premiums are expected to rise at an average of 4.7 percent annually, and Part D premiums are expected to rise 4.5 percent. Supplemental insurance premiums are projected to increase 5.65 percent in the foreseeable future, the report says.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
