Seniors could be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on healthcare during retirement as fewer employers offer retiree healthcare benefits and those in Medicare live longer.

Thus, healthcare planning is becoming an increasingly important issue for financial advisors. If you're not already into your client's healthcare planning, now may be a good time to start.

Medicare open enrollment began last Saturday (Oct. 15) and will run through Wednesday, December 7.

During this period, your senior clients will be wrestling with their Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. Offer to help them. . .or find someone who can. Such a gesture will cement your relationships, perhaps lead to referrals and may even open the door for a discussion of other financial wants or needs.

Your help with Medicare enrollment is important because choosing Medicare coverage is complex and it's sometimes difficult to get the information needed to compare plans.

What's more, seniors shouldn't think they can select a plan at age 65 and be done with it. For prescription drug plans change from year to year, whether it be premiums, co-pays or benefits. Also, the doctor may have changed a prescription from one drug to another and/or raised or lowered the dosage.

Your clients can change their plans only once a year. And that has to be during the Oct. 15--Dec. 7 open enrollment period.

You can help your client find the best prescription drug plan for him or her by going online to www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan The key is to know the medications your client is using and the dosages.

Allsup, a nationwide provider of Medicare plan selection services, cites some healthcare matters to review with your clients:

• Is it costing too much? Higher premiums can be charged to higher income earners. Medigap plans can help with unpredictable out-of-pocket expenses.

• Any recent or anticipated change of health? A new plan might provide important benefits that the current one does not.

• Are there concerns about the current coverage or care? If your clients are restricted from seeing the doctors or going to the hospitals they want, they should look at other plans. Many seniors foolishly avoid treatment or pay higher costs rather switch plans.

• Can they make changes on their own, or do they need help? When your retired client was working, the employer often provided two or three screened plans from which to choose. Now, with Medicare, the choice for medical and prescription drug coverage must come from dozens of plans.

Looking ahead, start talking with your clients about the Medicare tax increase coming in 2013. One change raises the Medicare Part A (hospital services) tax rate on wages to 2.35% from the current 1.45% on earnings over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly. In addition, a 3.8% tax will begin on unearned income for high-income individuals.

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