Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Investment Firms Direct Retirees On Health Expenses
Death and disease don鈥檛 discriminate, and that has many high-net-worth retirees worried. They realize fate could determine the quality of their retirement more than their lifetime of planning. ... Enter big brokerage firms with services not typically associated with wealth management. Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo are either offering to connect wealthy clients with providers that offer specialized health care, or training advisers to deal with such worries about health and aging among clients. (Sullivan, 5/13)
Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller said an aging population will present a 鈥渕assive, massive problem鈥 in 15 years. 鈥淭he young people are not going to be talking about cutting back,鈥 Druckenmiller said at a New York event hosted by Addepar, a technology company that provides software to financial advisers, fund managers and family offices. 鈥淭here will be nothing to cut back.鈥 Druckenmiller, 61, has argued for several years that the mushrooming costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will bankrupt the nation鈥檚 youth and eventually result in a crisis worse than the financial meltdown of 2008. The government will have to reduce payments to the elderly, he said at the event. (Foxman, 5/13)
COBRA can provide continuation of health insurance for 18 months up to 36 months and can be a literal lifesaver for people who lose their jobs and health coverage or, as in this situation, lose access to group coverage because of a divorce. What it does not do, however, is take the place of employer group coverage in the eyes of Medicare. An employer plan may excuse someone from needing to sign up for Medicare when they turn 65. However, COBRA does not qualify as group health coverage from an active employer. (Moeller, 5/13)
And the U.S. sees a boom in fertility treatments, some costing as much as $30,000 --
Miryam Gerdine and her husband, both 44 years old, are expecting their first child in June, but the happy occasion comes with a price tag: The Maryland couple spent $30,000 on in vitro fertilization and other procedures. Delayed childbearing has allowed more women to join the workforce, but many who wait until their late 30s and 40s struggle to get pregnant. (Shah, 5/14)
