What should you know?
The cost of healthcare has increased rapidly over recent decades and continues to rise in excess of general inflation.
The chart below shows how US medical care inflation has compared to inflation for all goods and services since the turn of the century:
We can see that the cost of healthcare has increased at 1.5x the rate of general inflation since the year 2000.
Why should you care?
The rise in the cost of healthcare shows no sign of abating. This is putting intense pressure on public health systems around the world as governments struggle to meet the rising costs.
The inevitable drop in the quality of publicly funded care means people are increasingly looking to the private medical sector to fill the void. The rising costs of good quality healthcare will, therefore, likely be borne by us.
It is highly likely that medical insurance premiums will become an increasingly larger proportion of our monthly outgoings. This is even further compounded by the fact these premiums already rise as we get older.
This projected change must be factored into our future finances to ensure we retain access to good quality healthcare throughout our lives.
As part of our financial planning process, we identify and plan for all potential future costs and build them into your financial plan. Only then can you truly know if you are on track to afford the life that you aspire to have.
