CNBC.com Article: Boomers Stand to Benefit Most from Health-Care Act

Boomers Stand to Benefit Most from Health-Care Act
Hit hardest by unemployment, shrinking nest eggs and rising health care costs, the Baby Boom generation will be the main beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act, according to experts.


With the presidential election and Supreme Court decision behind us, the federal government is moving forward with the Affordable Care Act. Baby Boomers stand to gain the most.
Since the recession, Boomers have been hard hit by unemployment, shrinking nest eggs and rising health care costs. During those years, about 8.6 million Boomers were without health insurance, according to a special 2009 report by Commonwealth Fund.
As the Boomer generation approaches retirement, many hope that the health care law will fill the void. "It is a game changer," says Ron Fontanetta, a health care group practice leader at Towers Watson. "It will provide health care access to pre-65 retirees in a very significant way."
Retirees who have not reached age 65 are more at risk -- they don't qualify for Medicaid, and if their former employers don't offer retiree health benefits, they will not have a group discount.
Also, it doesn't take much for a health insurance company to say that they have a pre-existing condition and deny them coverage, says Paul Fronstin, head of health benefits research at EBRI. Even if Boomer retirees can get a private health insurance plan, it will be very costly.
Based on their age alone, Boomers have to pay prices that are five to seven times higher than younger Americans, according to AARP. But if early retirees can wait until the ACA takes effect, it will change the playing field, says Fronstin.
-- Beginning in 2014, the law is supposed to prevent insurers from denying coverage to those who have a pre-existing condition. On Nov. 20, the Obama administration said that it was moving forward to implement provisions to ban discrimination and protect consumers from possible insurance abuses.
--The ACA also will do away with lifetime and annual dollar limits on benefits, and it will limit the age rating so that a Boomer can only pay three times as much as younger person.
--Health insurance will not necessarily be less costly. It will be operated by state health insurance exchanges, which will offer a competitive private health insurance market that should provide one-stop shopping.


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