The results reflect how our health care needs change over a lifetime, Lee explained. On average, married couples in the study were younger than widowed or single seniors. The couples were just developing chronic conditions, and could absorb some of the costs because they had insurance.
Before couples enjoy the fruits of their retirement, they should consider buying additional health insurance, the study suggests.
"When we decide between buying insurance or upgrading our lifestyle, we don't always think about the consequences," Lee said.
In contrast to married couples, singles or widowed spouses who participated in the study were older, and had been living with their chronic conditions for many years. Because insurance does not usually cover pre-existing conditions, they did not benefit from owning supplemental insurance as much as married people did.
"Single and widowed seniors especially face a problem. Often a widowed spouse will have already depleted much of the couple's accumulated wealth to save the dying spouse. And after that, many chronic conditions they suffer aren't covered by insurance," Lee said.
Conditions such as high blood pressure or arthritis aren't immediately
life threatening, Lee and Kim pointed out, but they both carry high
medication costs over the long term. Other common health costs for
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Contact: Jinkook Lee
Lee.42@osu.edu
614-247-7892
Ohio State University
21-May-2003