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How Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs Drive Even Insured Older Americans Into Debt
One obvious way to reduce the deficit is to squeeze Medicare recipients by forcing them to pick up more of the tab for their healthcare costs. And any number of proposals floating around in Washington would do exactly that.
The problem, though, is that older Americans covered by Medicare are already spending a lot on healthcare — and there's growing evidence that these costs are driving them into debt or poverty.
Earlier this month, Demos and AARP released a report on credit card debt among older Americans that found that 31.9 percent of senior households between 65-74 carried credit card debt, and 21.7 percent of seniors over 75 had such debt.
The sample size the survey analyzed was not large enough to determine the exact scope of such debt for these older Americans, but overall found that "Among middle-income Americans who carried credit card debt, the 50+ population had an average combined balance of $8,278 on all of their cards in 2012."
This is a disturbing finding. After all, if you have debt, there's a good chance you have minimal savings — which is not where you want to be in your 50s, 60s, or 70s.
Keep reading: How Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs Drive Even Insured Older Americans Into Debt – The Demos Blog – PolicyShop.
