Here's a sobering thought: Most active workers will never be eligible for health insurance through a former employer during retirement. A report just released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that only 13 percent of private-sector establishments offered health benefits to early retirees in 2005, down from 22 percent in 1997.

Furthermore, 13 percent of private-sector establishments offered health benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees in 2005, down from 20 percent in 1997... [726 word article, September 2009]