Although this is an older thread, it is always a topic of interest.

You CANNOT count on Medicare paying 80% of your healthcare costs. The 80% figure is based on what they pay for the costs they actually pick up. There are many costs they DO NOT pay, such as:

- dental
- vision
- prescriptions (that's what Part D is for)
- emergency transportation such as ambulances or paramedical
- long term care
- home healthcare

In reality, studies have shown that Medicare pays about 51-60% of TOTAL healthcare costs for seniors. So everyone, especially women since they live longer on average, needs to budget properly to cover all or most of their potential healthcare costs as they age.


Edited by jakkom (11/22/12 06:12 PM)