Medical, insurance and health related issues

Resources include Issue In Briefs, Working Papers, and other research studies.

June 2008:The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College :"How Can We Improve Long-Term Care Financing?" by Howard Gleckman. " The system for financing and delivering long-term care in the United States is deeply flawed.  While families and government spend more than $200 billion annually for such services, many frail elderly and disabled fail to receive the care they need.  This problem is expected to become more severe as the Baby Boom generation ages. More here. Full paper in PDF here

February 2008 - EBRI Notes "The Future of Employment-Based Health Benefits: Have Employers Reached a Tipping Point?," Large employers say they are not ready to bail out of their role of acting as the backbone of health insurance coverage in the United States, according to an article published today by EBRI. But the article also notes that large employers are pushing for changes they hope will alleviate the rising costs of health benefits, and the current picture could shift quickly if one large employer drops benefits. Press release 

February 2008:The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: Health Care Costs Drive Up the National Retirement Risk Index : Alicia H. Munnell, Mauricio Soto, Anthony Webb, Francesca Golub-Sass, and Dan Muldoon. Full paper in PDF

February 2008: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: Do Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs Delay Retirement? : Richard W. Johnson, Rudolph G. Penner, and Desmond Toohey : For executive summary in PDF: For full paper in PDF

December 2007: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:Health Insurance and the Labor Supply Decisions of Older Workers: Evidence From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: By Melissa A. Boyle and Joanna N. Lahey 

October 2007: The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College :"Medicare Costs and Retirement Security" by Alicia H. Munnell. For full paper in PDF

September 2007: The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College "The Role of Private Insurance in Financing Long-term Care" by Howard Gleckman. For the full paper in PDF