Software Aims to Help Boomers Plan Medical Costs

Ten million Baby Boomers are now over age 65 and more than half (60%) feel they are unprepared to pay for health care costs after they retire. Even more telling, most (92%) are unaware of how much savings they will need to handle these costs in retirement.

To address this concern, HealthView Services (HVS) has unveiled HealthWealthLink, a software platform also available as an iPad application, to help advisers work with clients to determine how much health care expense they can expect in retirement and how to pay for it.

HealthWealthLink is a combination of financial planning and health-risk assessment software that provides financial institutions, independent advisers and health care firms with a tool to serve their clients planning for retirement and those already in retirement.

“The superheroes in this situation are the advisers,” said Ron Mastrogiovanni, chief executive of HVS. “Many Boomers think that Medicare will take care of their health care costs in retirement, but they could not be more wrong and are just realizing that fact. Boomers are looking to their financial professionals for answers, and our platform is designed to give them those answers.”

HealthWealthLink is the first software system that calculates precise health care cost projections throughout a client’s entire retirement, tailored to the consumer’s health, wealth and income situation. Its foundation is backed by doctors and insurance actuaries for use in developing financial plans and includes legislative decisions affecting health care and Medicare costs at both the federal and state levels.

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The adviser inputs client data based on age, gender, health status, income range and state of residence. A personalized report gives longevity projections, as well costs for Medicare Part A, D and Medigap (also known as Medicare supplemental insurance), and long-term care expense projections in order to understand the expense gap.

HealthWealthLink then helps the adviser find the right solution for a client to fund the gap. The system’s features include:

• Health care calculator and Medicare calculator;
• Social Security and pension income calculators as a potential source of health care cost funding;
• Customized dashboard of investment and insurance funding sources, such as mutual funds, annuities, life insurance and long-term care insurance, among others;
• Interactive illustration system that allows the adviser to run “what if” scenarios to show clients how an initial investment in a financial product may reduce the health care cost burden; and
• Personalized client reports that are presented in clear language that help the client make educated, stress-free decisions.

The tool helps position advisers as a valued, trusted resource around one of the most misunderstood and complicated aspects of retirement planning, Mastrogiovanni said.

“Just one decision from a client on the appropriate financial products to use to solve the problem more than pays for the annual software license,” he said. The software works with any financial planning software an adviser is currently using.

The package includes HealthWealthLink branded customized software, iPad application, online training sessions, client marketing and education materials including lead generation communications, a guide to health care issues, one-click calculator to drive inquiries, client seminar and content for client newsletter.

For information on how to purchase HealthWealthLink, contact Ron Mastrogiovanni, hvsfinancial.com, 617-875-9313.