Is the medical benefit worth much? I see retirees complaining about it being cr-p and they just go with a paid Obamacare option instead. Maybe not worth sticking around for?
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@ct, yes you can pay full fare for Obamacare if you want. But it’s simply not true that the company is not subsidizing its pre-65 retiree plan. Retirees get the same coverage as employees and the premium is way below the market price. The only difference is that retirees do not get the discount for jumping through the Culture of Health hoop. BCBS PPO A for retirees is $505 per month for self + spouse. You can’t come anywhere near that number with Obamacare unless you are shamelessly manipulate your income to look poor and steal taxpayer money meant for welfare.
Please stop trashing and devaluing retiree healthcare. You will lose it if they believe you.
Just go to HealthCare.gov and type in your information and see what an Obamacare policy will cost you.
@cr your assessment of “Obamacare” is inaccurate. You can still join the plans and pay full price regardless of your income level, I’ve done it. Also, I don’t think your assessment of the value of the EM plan is correct, you will pay the full, unsubsidized cost of the premium, so it’s really about having access to a plan, not cost savings. And as employees have seen the plan quality continues to degrade so there’s less and less value. At least with the exchange you have options.
The Obamacare loop hole was largely closed when 4x poverty limits was reimposed when the COVID era subsidies sunsetted. You can still do it if you have a big post-tax brokerage account to live off of until Medicare at 65. But in my view, it’s morally offensive and shameful to manipulate your taxable income to use a loophole to impose your retirement cost on taxpayers by using a system that was intended for needy people. And I wouldn’t count on the remaining loophole to stay open forever.
For a couple, the retiree healthcare is worth about 2k$ per month. That’s valuable to just about anyone.
Post 65, the EM Aetna Medicare Advantage plan is similar to Advantage plans that anyone can get. The company subsidy is minimal. Retiree chat groups indicate that most see a slight and vantage to staying in the EM sponsored plan when they are younger but switching to traditional Medicare when medical needs start to rise later in life.