Americans 50-plus are ill-informed or simply in denial about their current and long-term health care, according to a recent AARP report. Many mistakenly believe they have some type of insurance to cover future care at home or in a skilled-nursing facility.
Four in 10 people over 50 do not know whether Medicare covers long-term health costs, according to the “Beyond Fifty” report. Fifteen percent more think that it does.
It does not.
At the same time, many older people incorrectly believe that they have private long-term-care insurance. More than 40 percent of 50-plusers report purchasing this insurance. The fact is that well below 10 percent have it.
“Private long-term care insurance is not affordable for many individuals,” according to AARP. More than 40 percent of people who have it earn at least $50,000.
Since today’s 50-year-olds can expect to live three more decades, their misconceptions could have a profound effect on their retirement years.
The high cost of staying healthy, not surprisingly, is Americans’ major health care hurdle, according to the study. From the ’70s to the ’90s, the average total health-care expense per insured and uninsured 50-pluser, not including a skilled-nursing facility, increased 310 percent.
More than 1 million Medicare recipients did not fill a prescription written for them in 1999, according to the AARP report. More than half of them pointed to lack of money.
Though the study found that today’s older people generally are in better health than past generations, the majority of 50-plusers are living with at least one chronic medical condition.
People are giving up smoking, using preventive medical services, taking medications and trying to exercise. But bad diets and excess weight could wipe out potential gains.
Obesity nearly doubled for 50-plusers between 1982 and ’99. As these overweight midlifers continue to age, they could find themselves without health coverage.