Fidelity Investments says the cost of healthcare in retirement is falling for the first time since the company began tracking health spending ten years ago — and the new healthcare reform law is getting the credit. Fidelity estimates that a 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need $230,000 to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement, [...] [...more]
Fast-rising retiree health benefit costs are prompting more states and municipalities to seek cuts in health benefits for their retired employees, according to The New York Times. The Times’ Steven Greenhouse notes that public sector employers have much more flexibility in adjusting health benefits than they do pension plans, which usually are governed by state [...] [...more]
Public opinion on healthcare reform is divided — Gallup says 46 percent of Americans back Republican efforts to repeal the law, 40 percent want it to stand and 14 percent have no opinion. Some Americans oppose the law on ideological grounds. But the poll numbers also reflect an enthusiasm gap stemming from the simple fact [...] [...more]
Wall Street Journal columnist David Wessel isn’t the first journalist to defend key features of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But his article today arguing that business shouldn’t root for repeal or (more likely) dismemberment is noteworthy for what it says –and its appearance in the WSJ, a staunch opponent of the health reform law. [...] [...more]
The new health care reform law will be under attack in 2011 in the courts and in Congress. If you’re over age 50 but too young for Medicare, you’d do well follow the battles closely. No age group stands to lose more than Americans age 50-64 if the conservative efforts to strangle the Affordable Care [...] [...more]
