The cost of providing health care benefits to early retirees

Subsidized health care benefits would be guaranteed for early retirees ages fifty-five to sixty-four under President Bill Clinton's health care reform proposal. This is an important policy issue because persons in this age group are the least likely age cohort of the nonelderly population to be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health Affairs 1994-03, Vol.13 (2), p.246-254
Main Authors: Fronstin, P, Snider, S C, Custer, W S, Salisbury, D L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Age
Age differences
Aged
Clinton, Bill
COBRA 1985-US
Cost benefit analysis
Cost estimates
Data Collection
Early retirement
Employee benefits
Employment
Federal government
Government subsidies
Health Benefit Plans, Employee - economics
Health Benefit Plans, Employee - statistics & numerical data
Health care
Health Care Costs
Health care expenditures
Health care industry
Health care policy
Health Care Reform - economics
Health insurance
Health Policy
Humans
Insurance coverage
Insurance, Health
Middle Aged
Proposals
Reforms
Retirees
Retirement
Retirement - economics
Retirement - statistics & numerical data
Retirement benefits
Statistical data
Subsidies
United States
Workers
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Summary:Subsidized health care benefits would be guaranteed for early retirees ages fifty-five to sixty-four under President Bill Clinton's health care reform proposal. This is an important policy issue because persons in this age group are the least likely age cohort of the nonelderly population to be working. They are also the most likely to face high and uncertain health care costs. Previous research has shown that access to continuation of health insurance coverage encourages retirement before age sixty-five. These retirement effects can add substantially to the federal government's cost of providing health care benefits to early retirees. Based upon various assumptions for premium levels, the induced retirement effects of current workers, and the number of nonworkers qualifying for subsidized benefits, we present total annual cost estimates to the federal government, based on 1994 figures, ranging from $9.1 billion to $19.6 billion, to provide subsidized benefits to the nonworking population between the ages of fifty-five and sixty-four.
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.13.2.246