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As a senior citizen, I utilize the health care system more than when I was young. When I was young, I felt well and never went to the doctor unless I had a problem. I never had annual check-ups. I have always exercised and watched my weight but my eating habits are terrible.

Between my wife and I, we now seem to have medical appointments and tests frequently. We also take a lot of pills. We’re both doing fairly well. I’m looking at 80 in one month.

One statement which I can make is old age is not for sissies.

We are fortunate to have Blue Cross supplemental insurance for Medicare and don’t have any real expensive prescriptions yet.

We pay $256.50 each for supplemental Medicare insurance and, in 2025, our Medicare Deductible for Medicare Part B will be $185 each. Our WellCare Medicare D prescription plan is free on a monthly basis. Adding it all up, we pay a total $883 for very good health insurance.

Some people tell me it’s cheap, others say it’s expensive. I feel blessed with what we have and that we are able to pay for it but it doesn’t feel cheap. It is cheap compared to what some other people pay.

Working-age people have healthcare insurance costs. Many are in the North Carolina State Healthcare Plan, employer and private healthcare plans. The state and employer plans pay part of the cost in their plans. Obamacare rates are based on yearly income. Above a certain amount, an individual pays the full amount.

For 2025, the NC State Plan has switched from Blue Cross to Aetna. There doesn’t appear to be a rate increase. Monthly costs go from $50 a month for an individual to $720 a month for the family for the 80% plan for nonsmokers. The N.C. State Healthcare Plan is always underfunded by the state.

The average annual premium for employees with single coverage through employer-provided health insurance is $1,686.67 with an average deductible of $2,267 according to Forbes. At $140.56 monthly, the cost is considerably higher than the NC State Health Plan. Many smaller companies do not provide health insurance to employees.

A recent report from Forbes Advisor showed that North Carolina is the least affordable state in the country for healthcare based on 9 metrics (report can be sourced on the Internet). When I was first employed in 1967 after leaving the U.S. Air Force, my insurance was free and I was an entry-level technician.

Being old and having a house that’s paid for, it doesn’t cost very much for us to live compared to young people. It was easy to start out when I was young. In comparison to what people were paid back then, prices were quite reasonable. We did live from paycheck to paycheck but had little debt.

It’s not easy being a young family. Things are a lot different in 2024. The must-have items like food, housing, transportation, insurance and medical care have suffered from continuous inflation. The cost of housing by itself can require a second paycheck. I couldn’t imagine things being as expensive as they are now.

Medical insurance has increased more than the rate of inflation most years.

Al Klemm is a Washington resident and a former Beaufort County Commissioner.