Medicare

A deal that was months in the making is finally official, with Aetna's board of directors approving on Sunday the health insurer’s sale to drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp for approximately $207 per share in cash and stock, in a deal worth $67 billion, multiple news sources reported on Sunday afternoon. The purchase price represents a premium of 29% to where Aetna shares were trading before the WSJ first reported that the two companies were in talks in October.

Authored by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com,

In the US, we have two national programs to care for the elderly.

Social Security provides a small pension, and Medicare covers medical expenses.

All workers pay taxes that supposedly fund the benefits we may someday receive.

The problem is that's not actually true. Neither of these programs is comprehensive.

Submitted by John Mauldin of Mauldin Economics

Uncle Sam’s Unfunded Promises

Here’s a surprisingly profound question: What is a promise? Dictionaries offer various definitions. I like this one: “An express assurance on which expectation is to be based.”

Authored by Richard Kocur via The Mises Institute,

Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders unveiled a single-payer healthcare plan called “Medicare for All.”

Sanders titled his approach for nationalizing one-sixth of the American economy as “Medicare for All” in order to offer a template for his vision of the U.S. healthcare system.

While statistics are somewhat sketchy on the topic, most research suggests that the average retirement-age household has managed to set aside roughly $200,000-$250,000 for their golden years.  Unfortunately, they'll need more than that just to cover their healthcare costs.  Per Bloomberg notes today, the average 65-year-old couple will need roughly $275,000 to cover their healthcare costs during retirement...and that's with Medicare.