health care planning for early retirees

What is the best approach to health care planning for early retirees?

A Cigna executive published a white paper at http://cigna.tekgroup.com/images/56/The%20New%20Health%20Care%20Gap.pdf that basically says that planning for health care for a surge of baby boomer early retirees is a serious matter and that employers and the insurance industry have not yet responded.

It seems that good health care planning under the ideal circumstance could cost a client $10,000 to $20,000 a year less than poor planning in an unfortunate circumstance, so this could be a "make or break" issue for cleints considering early retirement.

Under the best case, an applicant within three years of Medicare eligibility could use a 12 month x 3 year renewable short term medical insurance. This would give the most liberal coverage at the lowest price if pre-existing medical conditions are not an issue. Unfortunately this type of extended coverage is only available in about half of the states. The list is included in the review article at http://medsave.com/articles/Review-of-Secure-12x3-STM.htm. This coverage would typically be priced well under $1000 per month for a typical couple at age 62-64.

At the worst case, in some states with highly regulated individual insurance like New Jersey the same coverage could cost several times more, perhaps more than $3,000 per month.