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The Kaiser Family Foundation's 2014 Employer Health Benefits report says that rate increases are slowing from recession highs that ran far above inflation rates.

A new report suggests that people approaching retirement look at health-care expenses in later life in terms of recurring and nonrecurring services, and it offers some numbers that can be helpful in crafting a retirement budget.

Health care represents the second-largest budget item (after housing costs) for retirees. But planning for those expenses can be challenging, given increasing life expectancy and the possibility that medical bills can increase substantially with age.

A good way to think about such bills might be to separate the more predictable expenses from the less predictable oneswhich is how the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington, D.C., frames the issue in a recently published report.

Based on data from the Health and Retirement Study, a survey of U.S. households age 50-plus, EBRI defines predictableor recurringexpenses as doctor visits, prescription-drug use and dentist services. All three have high usage, and that usage is consistent across different age groups.

By comparison, less predictableor nonrecurringevents include overnight hospital stays, overnight nursing-home stays, home health care, outpatient surgery and special facilities.

EBRIs findings: Recurring health-care costs appear to remain stable throughout retirementand across all age groups. Among the Medicare-eligible population (age 65-plus), the average, annual out-of-pocket expenditure for recurring health-care expenses, according to EBRI, was $1,885.

If we assume a 2% rate of inflation and 3% rate of return on savings, a person with a life expectancy of 90 would need almost $41,000 (to be exact: $40,798) at age 65 to fund his or her recurring health-care expenses through end of live. (Note: That figure doesnt include other recurring expenses like insurance premiums or over-the-counter medications.)

With nonrecurring expenses, the math is trickier; thats because, by definition, both the usage and intensity of usage of these types of services are very uncertain, the report states. Here, instead of providing a single figure needed at retirement, EBRI looks at specific services.

See more here:

A smarter way to budget for retirement health-care costs