When we think about retiring and getting out, many of us tend to think about moving south or west—somewhere where the air is warm, and taxes and costs are low.
Hence the famous flocks of snowbirds to cheap, sunny places like Florida, Texas and Arizona.
But we’d better wait a second before we book that U-Haul, warns a new report on state healthcare systems. “It’s not all about tax rates and sunshine,” says Jeff Smedsrud, co-founder of insurance comparison sites HealthCare. com and MedicareGuide.com. “If you’re in a state with a not-very-good healthcare delivery system, sunshine is only going to take you so far.”
Healthcare can be the key issue when we get older. According to the U.S. Government, our annual healthcare costs over 65 are on average more than twice what they are during our prime working years.
The average male senior citizen used just over $18,000 worth of healthcare per year and the average female senior citizen nearly $20,000, estimates the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—and these numbers date from 2014.
Yes, much of that spending is covered by Medicare, but by no means all. Not only does Medicare cover only about 20% of your bills, but some costs—such as nursing homes—aren’t covered at all.
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