By Ron Alvey @ Shutterstock.com
In a recent article in the Daily Mail, James Gordon reported that pickleball’s rising popularity could cost the U.S. between $250 and $500 million in health insurance costs related to injuries in 2023 alone. Most of these injuries happen in people over the age of 60. Gordon writes:
With pickleball’s popularity soaring in the U.S., so are the potential injury costs from the fastest-growing sport in the country.
Investment bank UBS estimates that pickleball-related injuries could result in health insurance costs ranging from $250 million to $500 million in 2023 alone.
Health insurance company UnitedHealth Group recently reported a higher-than-expected frequency of hip replacements, knee surgeries, and other elective procedures.
UBS Group analysts say some of the uptick – the number of players has increased by 159 percent in three years – is as a direct result of more people picking up their racquets to hit the courts and play pickleball.
In the sport, which is a hybrid of badminton, ping-pong and tennis, players use a plastic-perforated ball, slightly heavier than a whiffle ball, and wooden or composite paddles that are about twice the size of ping-pong paddles.
UBS Group analysts say some of the uptick – the number of players has increased by 159 percent in three years – is as a direct result of more people picking up their racquets to hit the courts and play pickleball.
In the sport, which is a hybrid of badminton, ping-pong and tennis, players use a plastic-perforated ball, slightly heavier than a whiffle ball, and wooden or composite paddles that are about twice the size of ping-pong paddles.
You may not be a pickleball player, but the story is a great reminder to consider health care costs during retirement. According to a study performed by Karolos Arapakis at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Americans spend an average of $67,000 per household on out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Martha C. White reports for Money:
In a brief published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, research economist Karolos Arapakis breaks out categories of health care spending in retirement. Across the population of retirees, Medicare covers close to two-thirds of the cost of health care, with Medicaid covering an additional 11% and a patchwork of other government and private programs kicking in another 4%. That leaves close to 22% — not including the cost of premiums — that retirees themselves have to come up with.
Arapakis found that the average retiree household incurs $21,400 in health care costs annually. This includes both covered and out-of-pocket care. (The research looked at households with two spouses as well as those with only one surviving spouse.) That average cost disguises the fact that many families wind up paying considerably more: 10% have annual health care costs of $43,500 or higher.
Even with nearly 80% of those costs covered by insurance, that still adds to a significant financial burden on retirees, which many are unprepared to afford. Starting when members reach the age of 65, Arapakis estimated that the average household will spend $67,000 on out-of-pocket health care costs over the remainder of their lifetime, while 10% will be saddled with a whopping $138,000 or more.
While a health catastrophe can strike at any point, Arapakis says people should be aware of the cumulative costs they bear over the years even in the absence of a serious one-time health event. “There is a risk for very significant medical spending,” he says.
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
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