Oct. 19, 2020, 12:31 p.m. EDT
Are you older and worried about rising health care costs? You're not alone
Alessandra Malito
Going to a doctor is meant to make people feel better, but in some cases, the bills associated with health care visits just make them feel worse.
Almost 60% of Medicare recipients 65 and older said they're concerned about their ability to pay for future health care expenses, according to a survey of more than 1,100 people from MedicareGuide.com and YouGov. Half of the respondents, who were all 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare, said they were afraid a major medical event would lead to debt or bankruptcy. Already 13% said they carried medical debt, and about four in 10 of those participants said the debt was more than $1,000.
Health care expenses rise every year, especially for older Americans. The average couple retiring at 65 in 2020 can expect to spend $295,000 in retirement for medical expenses alone, according to Fidelity Investments' annual research report . That figure does not include long-term care costs, over-the-counter medications, vitamin supplements or glasses. At the same time, this year has been particularly stressful as health officials warn the coronavirus is most dangerous to older Americans or people with underlying health conditions .
The MedicareGuide.com survey respondents said they had a few choices for how to pay for these bills, though not all of them were ideal. If they became sick with a severe illness, such as COVID-19, a third of people said they would turn to retirement savings to pay for treatments and one-fifth said they'd use nonretirement savings. Almost a quarter of people said they'd use a credit card.
Paying for prescription drugs was one of the greatest challenges participants faced, they said, followed by out-of-pocket costs for health insurance and the premiums. But some were able to find solutions: 44% said they asked for the generic version of a brand-name drug and 37% said they purchased in bulk to avoid less copays. Others shopped around at pharmacies or with apps. Some said they took less than their prescribed dosage or skipped the medication altogether.
The survey results come as Medicare was a topic during the Senate hearings for Supreme Court justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett. During an exchange with Barrett, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein mentioned an argument in which Medicare could potentially be deemed unconstitutional, if based on a conservative interpretation of the program and the original intent of the Constitution. She asked Barrett if she agreed with "originalists" who consider Medicare unconstitutional, to which the nominee responded saying she couldn't answer the question.
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