10 Most Expensive States for Retirement Health Care

If you’re on the verge of retirement you’re probably at least a little bit worried, unless you’re packing a large golden parachute, about how much you’ll end up paying for health care once you’ve actually retired.

Even with Medicare’s help, health care premiums aren’t exactly cheap, but there can be a shockingly large difference between what you might pay for your Medicare coverage in one state and what the same premiums might cost you elsewhere.

Thanks to a new app from HealthView Services, financial advisors can now check out the main costs for health care in retirement to help them plan better for their clients.

The new HealthView Explorer app uses HealthView Services’ advisor- and physician-reviewed methodology to project retirement health care costs — drawing on data from 50 million health care cases to project health care costs by age and state for individuals retiring at 65.

(Related on ThinkAdvisor: Top 15 Most Expensive States for Long-Term Care: 2015)

While you can check out the HealthView Explorer app, as well as look into the firm’s free consumer-facing applications, they very kindly gave us the scoop on the 10 most expensive states for healthcare in retirement.

As you recover from sticker shock, please remember how the numbers were generated:

Costs are for Medicare Part B Premiums, Medicare Part D Premiums, and Supplemental Insurance Premiums.
Surcharges for exceeding retirement Modified Adjusted Gross Income thresholds are not included.
Projections reflect costs for a healthy 65 year old retiring today, living through age 84, totaling 20 years in retirement.

Without further ado, here are the 10 most expensive states for health care:

10. Indiana

Hoosier retirees, prepare yourselves.

You’ll need to set aside $145,235 just for 20 years of healthcare coverage. Even though the cost here is nearly $7,000 less than in the most expensive state, it’s no bargain.

9. Texas

Everything’s big in Texas, so it should come as no surprise that healthcare premiums are, too.

Retirees in the Lone Star State can look forward to forking over $146,969 for the privilege of being covered — and that’s before they set foot in a doctor’s office.

8. Illinois

Whether they live in the Chicago area or not, retirees will be blown away by the cost of 20 years of premiums. They’ll need $147,203 to stay healthy — or try to — in the Prairie State.

7. New Jersey

What? New Jersey not at the top of the “most expensive” list?

That’s a surprise — but it’s still no bargain to pay for 20 years’ worth of healthcare premiums in retirement in the Garden State, where it will cost $148,865. Better make that a victory garden, so retirees can eat, too.

6. Louisiana

Retirees in the Pelican State might wish, especially if they’re fans of Dixon Lanier Merritt, that they had a beakful of money to pay 20 years’ worth of healthcare premiums here.

At the very least they’ll need a thick wallet to hold the $149,661 it will cost them.

(And if you’re wondering about that beakful of money and its connection to Merritt? Back in 1910, he wrote a very famous limerick, often attributed to Ogden Nash, that goes,

“A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill will hold more than his belican, He can take in his beak Enough food for a week But I’m damned if I see how the helican!”)

5. Nevada

Retirees in the Silver State will find themselves spending a fair amount of that silver to pay their healthcare premiums, which will cost them $151,014 over 20 years.

They could try a trip to Vegas to help — do they feel lucky?

4. Massachusetts

$151,110. That’s how much your retiree clients could pay just for healthcare premiums over 20 years.

If they’re not well off, getting Red Sox season tickets could put them in the red.

3. Maryland

Retirees in the Free State will pay $151,438 across 20 years of premiums for the privilege of watching the sun rise over the Chesapeake Bay — definitely not free.

2. Michigan

Michigan’s no bargain either; in fact, it comes in at just a few small dollars short of the most expensive state. Twenty years’ worth of healthcare premiums here will cost you $152,175.

1. Florida

Considering its large population of seniors, maybe it should come as no surprise that Florida is the most expensive state for healthcare in retirement.

Medicare Parts B and D and supplemental insurance premiums add up to a hefty $152,184 for a 20-year-long retirement — and that’s before anyone actually needs care.

– Related on ThinkAdvisor:

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