When planning for retirement, many people underestimate the amount of money they will need for health care in their last years of life. A recent study from Fidelity estimates that a typical couple retiring last year, both of whom were age 65, would need $245,000 between the two of them to cover their health care costs after retirement, assuming average life expectancies. That figure excludes any costs for long-term care, though, which can be very expensive. Approximately 9 percent (3.4 million) of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries use home health services in a given year. In 2014, 8.9 percent ($7.4 billion) of all home health care costs in the U.S. were paid by individuals out-of-pocket. Many more people will spend time in a nursing home and/or assisted living facility, which is much more expensive, and typically not covered by Medicare. In 2014, $155.6 billion was spent by all payers on nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities. While Medicare spent nearly $17,000 on the average FFS beneficiary requiring such services in a given year, 26.5 percent of the costs are paid by individuals out-of-pocket. Given that a person spends, on average, more than 2 years in an assisted living facility and nearly 2 years in a nursing home, out-of-pocket costs for these types of services can total nearly $69,000. Combined with the estimate from Fidelity, a couple should plan to spend $383,355 on health care costs in retirement.