Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

People are clueless about the benefits because the documentation is unclear and HR in unavailable to answer questions. Their answering system just sends you round & round, unable to get ahold of anyone.

@2mkp Thank you for explaining. This is exactly what I was wondering about. Definitely a factor to consider.

@bdz the $2700 supplement per year can be used to pay Medicare supplement premiums or any out of pocket medical expense, co-pays, pr-scrip-ions, etc.. Think of it as a free HSA account for $2700 per year. All you have to do is save all your receipts and submit them online. There is no convenient debit card. And if you don’t use it all you cannot carry it over to next year.

I have a question around MR75 and hope someone on this forum can help out, if I am 52 years old and have 25 years of service, would I have met MR 75 or do I need to wait till I turn 55.
Asking for a friend :-)

So many people understand nothing about their benefits or how they work.
Once you have attained MR 75, you don't "lose" it.

Can someone explain what the $2700 subsidy is? I am not very well versed on medical during retirement and am trying to educate myself before the time comes. Does the annual subsidy of $2700 go towards your deductible/whatever Medicare doesn’t cover? My understanding is is that I will still probably need to purchase a supplemental plan in addition to Medicare.

Employee health care, for those who qualify, is not going away after the end of the year (although AT&T may change or eliminate retiree benefits at any time).

What changes after 12/31/20 is that AT&T will no longer provide supplemental Medicare coverage, when you turn 65, if you don’t retire by 12/31/20.

For what it is worth, I am currently retired at 61 drawing company medical coverage. As a current retiree, I am not aware of this supplemental benefit going away for me once I am Medicare eligible.
I believe this issue only applies to those who are still on the payroll 01-01-21, correct?

@wvp, also correct, it's unknown if they will continue to give it. So the 'get out now' before 1/1/21 is something of an incentive, better than a stick in the eye.

There has been poor unclear communications from the company to the peasant base about this and much more. Most folks find it hard to know where to get the straight word. Others are afraid to hit company website looking for such info and get on a surplus short list, inadvertently.

@emi, I would think not, would sem illegal, as benefits of this nature dealing with Medicare coverage and such, isn't 'perk-able' to higher paid life forms in AT&T, I could be wrong. I'm sure they get loads of other perks they adjust that us peasants do not get

Also current retirees have been told this benefit may not continue past 2023, making this much less of a carrot.

Correct - but it doesn't seem that the loss of that benefit after 1-1-21 (which kicks in when they turn 65) is having much of an impact on management employees in general and L3-L5 in particular regarding whether to leave in 2020 or stay.

The question was does anyone know if some folks are getting that loss of benefit waived.

Get your facts straight. The only MR75-related item that goes away after end of year - for those large subset of MR75 employees that are eligible for AT&T-subsidized retiree health benefits - is the annual subsidy once the employee turns 65 (and Medicare kicks in) - which I believe is currently $4200 per year for married folks and $2700 per hear for single folks.

I, like others who have posted, marvel at the large number of long-time AT&T employees that are clueless regarding what material benefits they qualify for.