Health Insurance Coverage In Retirement: The Erosion Of Retiree Income Security

by Weller, Christian E.; Wenger, Jeffrey; Gould, Elise

• ISBN13: 9781932066111
• ISBN10: 193206611X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-30
• Publisher: Economic Policy Inst

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(2)
A review of the literature on the connection between health status, health insurance, and retirement	3	(8)
Health status of the elderly and near-elderly	3	(2)
Health status and retirement decisions	5	(1)
Health status and demographics	6	(2)
Health insurance coverage and retirement decisions	8	(1)
Rising health care costs	9	(2)
The link between rising health care costs and declining access to employer-sponsored insurance	11	(6)
Retirees suffer from declining access to affordable employer-sponsored insurance	11	(3)
Increased costs are to blame for the lack of access to ESI	14	(3)
Sources of health insurance for the near-elderly and elderly	17	(14)
Employers are the primary source of health insurance, but with large gaps	20	(5)
Employers lose importance as source of health insurance upon retirement	25	(6)
Coverage declines for retirees, especially for prescription drugs	31	(16)
Trends in health care coverage from 1996 to 2002	31	(5)
Trends in health care coverage from 1987 to 2002	36	(3)
Declining access to prescription drug coverage for retirees	39	(1)
Prescription drug coverage declines upon retirement	40	(5)
Trends in prescription drug coverage since 1996	45	(2)
Conclusion	47	(4)
Technical appendix	51	(6)
Endnotes	57	(2)
Bibliography	59