Do you think AT&T will reduce its retiree medical subsidy (for current retirees) or eliminate the subsidy completely. I would be interested in what current retirees think? I’m considering leaving the company by year-end to achieve the subsidy but wondering if the subsidy will be eliminated for retirees in the next few years regardless.
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Want. Free. Stuff.
Stankey for President!
As the company continues to manage their healthcare cost, which 4yrs ago when I left was in the $6 billion range, they will find ways to shift the cost to employee's and retiree's. Looks like after 2023, all Medicare eligible will be put on AT&T Medicare advantage plan, with small HSA to cover dental and vision. It's only a guess what they would do with those pre-Medicare. Today they cover the Bronze at no cost to the the retiree, however that could change.
Eventually they'll cut everything (retiree and active employee benefits, severance, staffing, etc.), and everything they can find a buyer for will be sold off. For the obscene amount of money Stankey and the bobbleheads he's surrounded with get paid, of course they want to hang around as long as possible. So the liquidation will be a gradual process. Remember, they have years of future fu-k-ups and general mismanagement to cover.
I hated when they changed our life insurance to 10K max. When my father died at 84 yrs (retired Ohio Bell) i received a check for 64K. Would have been nice to do the same for my son. Stankey won't be happy until he has eliminated all benefits. A man without a conscious.
While the Stinky will take his corporate jet to the finest plastic surgeon in the US, at T's expense of course, to cure his drooling problems, rest assured that he is planning a new health care plan for all us peons - we will have to report to the Soylant Green factory when we get sick.
Very well said @gfb
“ I think there'd be an uproar if they cut off retirees while there are still so many affected.”
Are you for real? At this point, do you seriously believe they care the slightest about creating an “uproar”?
We all see the character of the people running this company. What do you think they will do?
I retired this year for many reasons, hoping that the health subsidy will continue for a few years, but with the realistic expectation that it could end at anytime.
My advice to anyone contemplating retirement this year: Do not do it just to keep the subsidy; do it if you are ready to retire anyway. Enjoy the subsidy while it lasts, but be prepared financially for the reality that it can be taken away at anytime.
All healthcare benefits for active employees and retirees will be eliminated, it's just a matter of time. Sad but true.
They will have to eliminate this benefit, how else will they be able to stay in business. Stankey has wrecked AT&T.
Occupational. We got the AON current deal through 2023. That gives me the HRA, which pays Medicare Part B. I've picked a $0 Med Advantage that includes dental and vision.
Come 2024, I'm assuming that I'm going to wind up with AT&T's Med Advantage, which is not a shabby plan, but there is no dental or vision. I'm assuming I'm going to have to shell out for Medicare Part B, along with vision and dental.
Hope it doesn't deteriorate to that point, but I do think that is a possibility.
The HRA provides a $100,000 prescription doughnut coverage, but I think the AT&T Med Advantage plan is better in that area.
But, this year, it seemed that AT&T only wanted unsubsidized retirees to participate in their Med Advantage plan.
If I left this year I'd get just a couple year before I was eligible for Medicare. I feel they are unlikely to stop the subsidy that soon, and I think there'd be an uproar if they cut off retirees while there are still so many affected. There are other reasons I'm considering leaving. I plan to take a lump sum, and I think the November '21 interest rates are going to be higher and make the lump sum smaller. There's also the reduced pension contribution to consider (1% rather than 1.6%) and the general trend of benefits being cut. I think severance is likely to be cut, and I wonder why they didn't freeze the pension as Verizon did. There's also the risk of being outsourced to another company. I can't get an answer on how quickly that affects your pension choices and the risk to the lump sum option.
Don't worry. AT&T will always take care of you.
No one knows. But we can take an educated guess based on their language and history. And mine would be that they stop it in 5 years or less. They’ve gone out of their way to make it clear that they reserve the right to stop it at anytime.
They will force all employees on the ACA. It will be every person for themselves!!
Not a retiree yet. But yes. Company has been clear that the benefits are not guaranteed in future years. You know what that means.