Preparing for Health Care Costs in Retirement: An America’s Health Rankings® Issue BriefUnited Health Foundation and Alliance for Aging Research

This issue brief, released in collaboration with United Health Foundation and the Alliance for Aging Research, examines current and future seniors' readiness for health care costs in retirement. Based on analysis of a recently conducted survey of retired seniors (age 65+) and non-retired adults (age 50-64), as well as data from studies on recommended health care savings targets in retirement, key findings include:

• Many current and future retirees are at risk of not being able to afford the high costs of health care in retirement;
• A high percentage of current and future retirees are unsure about how much to save to cover both anticipated as well as unexpected health care costs; and
• Current and future retirees with retirement savings of $20,000 or less are more likely to be in poor health, have chronic disease, and have lower incomes than those with higher rates of retirement savings.