People must make allowances for health care expenses before retiring

• Nowadays, people say that if you have your employer-sponsored retiree health insurance you've got all.
• Unfortunately, fewer and fewer Americans will be able to make that statement in the years to come.
• For instance, the study says the percentage of private-sector employers offering retiree health benefits to early retirees, those under age 65, has declined from 22 percent in 1997 to just 13 percent in 2002, the latest year for which figures are available.
• The upshot is that future retirees, especially baby boomers, will be in for quite a shock come retirement.
• "As current trends continue, and workers come to understand the true availability and cost of retiree health benefits, baby boomers may find themselves unpleasantly surprised by what awaits them in retirement," says Paul Fronstin, author of the EBRI report.
• Fidelity Investments estimated that a couple retiring in January 2004 without an employer-sponsored health-care plan would have needed to set aside $175,000 to pay future health-care costs.
• Allen Steinberg of Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Ill., says the answer will depend in part on when you retire: whether you are 65 or older and eligible for Medicare or pre-Medicare-eligible and whether you have access to an employer-provided health-care plan, regardless of who's paying for it.
• "Once you get to age 65, it's a much more favorable ballgame," he says, noting the addition of prescription-drug coverage as part of Medicare starting in 2006.
• Regardless of when you retire or what coverage you have, experts say future retirees will likely have to pursue several tactics now and in the years to come to make sure they can fund health-care expenses.
• For those who have the time, saving more -- assuming they have access to and can afford coverage -- is definitely a must.