Rising health and long-term care costs threaten many older Americans’ financial security. Our research examines the level and distribution of costs, how they are likely to change over time, and alternative financing reforms.

Data at a Glance

• Who Purchases Long-Term Care Insurance? (2011)

Out-Of-Pocket Costs

• Medicare Premiums and Social Security's Cost-of-Living Adjustments (2011)

• Will Health Care Costs Bankrupt Aging Boomers? (2010)

• Are Health Care Costs a Burden for Older Americans? (2009)

• Do Health Problems Reduce Consumption at Older Ages? (2009)

• It's Not Easy Being Gray: The New Rules of Retirement (2009)

• Do Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs Delay Retirement? (2008)

• Health Insurance Coverage and Costs at Older Ages (2006)

• Health Care Costs, Taxes, and the Retirement Decision (2006)

• When the Nest Egg Cracks: Financial Consequences of Health Problems, Marital Status Changes, and Job Layoffs at Older Ages (2006)

• Will Health Care Costs Erode Retirement Security? (2004)

• Solvency or Affordability? Ways to Measure Medicare’s Financial Health (2002)

Medicare and Other Health Insurance

• Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Benefits Over a Lifetime (2013)

• Committees Tackle the Deficit (2011)

• Will Health Care Costs Bankrupt Aging Boomers? (2010)

• Increasing Health Insurance Coverage for High-Cost Older Adults (2009)

• Are Health Care Costs a Burden for Older Americans? (2009)

• Aligning Incentives: The Case for Delivery System Reform (2008)

• Can Faster Economic Growth Bail Out Our Retirement Programs? (2008)

• Options to Improve Quality and Efficiency Among Medicare Physicians (2007)

• Medicare: A Policy Primer (2006)

• Medicare Disadvantaged and the Search for the Elusive ‘Level Playing Field’ (2004)

• The Medicare Chronic Care Improvement Program (2004)

• Getting Serious About Excessive Medicare Spending (2003)

• Digging the Medicare Hole Deeper (2003)

• Lifetime Social Security and Medicare Benefits (2003)

• Solvency or Affordability? Ways to Measure Medicare’s Financial Health (2002)

Changing the Medicare Eligibility Age

• Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age with a Buy-In Option (2005)

• Changing the Age of Medicare Eligibility (2003)

• How Raising the Age of Eligibility for Social Security and Medicare Might Affect the Disability Insurance and Medicare Programs (2000)

Private Insurance Options

• What Happens to Health Benefits After Retirement? (2007)

• Health Insurance Coverage and Costs at Older Ages (2006)

• Insuring the Near Elderly (2002)

• Gaps in Health Insurance Coverage Among the Near Elderly (2001)

• Health Insurance Costs and Early Retirement Decisions (1999)

Older Adults with Disabilities and their Caregivers

• Work Ability and the Social Insurance Safety Net in the Years Prior to Retirement (2010)

• The Future of Long-Term Care: What Is Its Place in the Health Reform Debate? (2009)

• The Strains and Drains of Long-Term Care (2008)

• Meeting the Long-Term Care Needs of the Baby Boomers (2007)

• Medicaid’s Long-Term Care Beneficiaries (2007)

• A Profile of Frail Older Americans and Their Caregivers (2006)

• In-Home Care for Frail Childless Adults (2006)

• When the Nest Egg Cracks: Financial Consequences of Health Problems, Marital Status Changes, and Job Layoffs at Older Ages (2006)

• Getting by in the Community: Lessons from Frail Elders (2005)

• Impact of the BBA-Mandated Interim Payment System on Medicare Home Health Utilization (2003)

• New Estimates of Lifetime Nursing Home Use (2002)

• Who Will Care For Us? Addressing the Long-Term Care Workforce Crisis (2001)

• One-Third at Risk (2001)

Family Caregivers

• The Burden of Caring for Frail Parents (2007)

• A Profile of Frail Older Americans and Their Caregivers (2006)

• The Impact of Elder Care on Women’s Labor Supply (2006)

• Value of Unpaid Activities by Older Americans Tops $160 Billion Per Year (2005)

• Many Older Americans Engage in Caregiving Activities (2005)

• Potential and Active Family Caregivers (2000)

• Parental Care at Midlife (2000)

Financing Long-Term Care

• Who Purchases Long-Term Care Insurance? (2011)

• The CLASS Act (2010)

• The Future of Long-Term Care: What Is Its Place in the Health Reform Debate? (2009)

• A Proposal to Finance Long-Term Care Services through Medicare with an Income Tax Surcharge (2007)

• Meeting the Long-Term Care Needs of the Baby Boomers (2007)

• Medicaid’s Long-Term Care Beneficiaries (2007)

• Options for Improving Medicare Payments for Skilled Nursing Facilities (2007)

• Impact of the BBA-Mandated Interim Payment System on Medicare Home Health Utilization (2003)

• State Cost Containment Initiatives for Long-Term Care Services for Older People (2000)

• Long-Term Care Needs and the Government Response (Part 1 of 3) (1999)

• Long-Term Care Needs and the Government Response (Part 2 of 3) (1999)

• Long-Term Care Needs and the Government Response (Part 3 of 3) (1999)

Private Long-Term Care Insurance

• Modeling the Decision to Purchase Private Long-Term Care Insurance (2008)

• A Profile of Frail Older Americans and Their Caregivers (2006)

• Is Private Long-Term Care Insurance the Answer? (2005)

• Policy Implications of an Annuity Approach to Integrating Long Term Care Financing and Retirement Income (2003)

• Integration of the Life Annuity and Long-term Care Insurance (2002)

• Federal and State Initiatives to Jump Start the Market for Private Long-Term Care Insurance (2000)

Commentary and Testimony

• How Can We Address Long-Term Care without CLASS? (2011)

• What Happened to the CLASS Act? (2011)

• It Takes a Village to Help Seniors Stay in Their Homes (2011)

• Fix the CLASS Act, Don't Repeal It (2011)

• National Long-Term Care Insurance: How Much Would It Cost? (2011)

• What about long-term care? (2009)

• Aligning Incentives: The Case for Delivery System Reform (2008)

• The Burden of Caring for Frail Parents (2007)

• Options to Improve Quality and Efficiency Among Medicare Physicians (2007)

• Paying a Price for Decisions of Yesteryear (2007)

• Do I Really Deserve Even More of Your Money? (2007)

• Provide Protections From Retirement’s Pitfalls (2006)

• Time to Take Federal Budget Off Autopilot (2005)

• Digging the Medicare Hole Deeper (2003)

Videos and Podcasts from Urban Events

• Long-Term Care in an Era of Shrinking Government (2011)

• How to Fix the CLASS Act (2011)

• Caring for Our Parents: Should Long-Term Care be Part of Health Reform? (2009)

• Special Needs Housing for the Frail Elderly and Homeless (2008)

• Who Will Pay for Boomers’ Long-Term Care? (2007)

• The Role of Private Plans in Medicare’s Future (2007)