Social Security Benefits and Health Care Expense Trends: A 2019 Respite?
Bernice Napach, senior writer at ThinkAdvisor, provides an analysis of current statistics on Social Security benefits and the portion that is consumed by health care costs. Following a jump in 2018, a year in which the Senior Citizen League reports a substantial increase in the number of seniors spending 35% to 50% of their benefits on health care, it appears that 2019 might realize a slight decrease in this statistic as a result of the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) anticipated for the coming year. SCL’s Mary Johnson projects that “…the 2019 COLA will more than cover the expected increase in health care coverage costs.”
So, 2019 looks good, but 2020 portends to be a year in which enrollment changes for Medigap Plans C and F, along with expected premium increases in other Medigap plans, will likely wipe out this one-year respite. Read Ms. Napach’s thinkadvisor.com post here…
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