If you are staying at Chevron to get your points for healthcare, it is not worth it. $1200 a month for the retirement Kaiser CA HMO for married couples and almost a thousand for the medical PPO. Too bad Obamacare forced everyone to get insurance. It would be better to get a cheap catastrophic plan and bank the over $12,000 a year premiums, and pay as you go.
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@5qye remember that your age contributes most to your points. Even 10 years service on top of age 60 gets you a good chunk of retirement medical (I think 10 is the minimum to qualify). Also, '0 or low income' will qualify you for welfare and Obama care. You don't want to be there.
I'll never get all the points because I came as an experienced hire. I stay because of the pay, CIP, pension. If it gets unbearable, I'll retire early and when I show zero or low income I can get a low premium health plan until I can qualify for Medicare.
@1jbn, You are correct. After collecting your 90 points, the Chevron medical contribution is only a mere $94 a month. But, when you are post-65, you are covered by Medicare. You can either stay with Medicare (Part A) which is free or signup for any Medicare Supplemental Plan including a Medicare Advantage Plan, which Chevron’s is one of many. If you take the Chevron Medicare Advantage Plan, you’ll get your earned medical contribution amount. If you don’t take the Chevron plan, you won’t get the monthly stipend. Although the Medicare Part B monthly amount is currently $170, the Chevron medical contribution amount you earned is a big help in keeping your healthcare premiums very affordable. As for myself, I was laid off a few years before turning 65, so I took advantage of getting a lower cost ACA Plan until switching over the Chevron Medicare Advantage Plan. It’s working out pretty good for me.
Chevron’s normal (not high deductible nor HMO) pre-65 insurance for one retiree and spouse is about $1900/mo. ($23K/yr). For those with 75 points Chevron pays a third of that (for those with 90 points I hear they pay about half).
90 points is not for medical benefits, as it is not a big deal. but it is critical for those 26+ folks to get their full stocks and options vested.
90 points is an old rule best forgottten. 75 is the new 90.
I prefer to listen to Jimmy Walker and Joe Namath tell me how I can pay nothing for Medicare, AND get money put back into my SS check.
I retired 2020 with 90+ points. I agree with OP, it was a bit surprising learning how 'lean' the post-65 retiree medical benefits are - it only covers about 25% of the premiums you'll pay for Medicare Part B and a good supplement (don't ever, ever get an Advantage plan). On a dollar-for-dollar basis, it was more lucrative (but more expensive) to collect the pre-65 medical. Lesson learned for those still working: yes, don't sweat out those final few "points" if a good severance package comes along.
Wow. That is terrible. That is practically COBRA prices. Would love to retire at 59.5 but Healthcare system in US is the sole reason why that is nothing but a pipe dream.
Change your name, spend a year south of the border living on the beach or whatever and then come across the border with everyone else and the healthcare will be free and they will throw some SS benefits as well! Problem solved!
“Obamacare forced everyone“… oh please, this is nonsense. If you don’t want health insurance the tax penalty is very low, but don’t come back crying if you have a major unexpected health issue. You are also allowed to get very high deductible plans with no imposed tax penalty. In Texas you can get gold ACA insurance for about $10k/yr, which is a little cheaper than the Chevron pre-65 insurance, but there is comfort being in a group where the rules are probably more stable. I will not comment on folks that “cheat” the system using their Roth IRA to hide their income pre-65 (yes I could do that, and I know it is not technically illegal, I just prefer to pay my own way in life). The rates for health coverage are not ever going down until we agree on a single payer system (cost of care per person in Canada and Germany are almost half what we pay in our system, and the average outcomes are better).
Unexpectedly needing to access US Healthcare system is the one major item that can totally financially ruin a person, even solidly middle class folk. Balance/surprise billing should not be allowed. Someone dealing with medical emergency or accident should be able to focus on care and not that the facility will gouge them and then hit them with balance billing that can be well in excess of $10k.
once retired you can pick up ACA gold for near nothing as long as you have no income.
Blaming liberals for all your problems. How responsible! 🤣
OP.... you clearly need to do more homework about your healthcare options.... Obamacare options / costs are not the issue.... your lack of knowledge / willingness to do your homework is.... clearly working at Chevron for so long has shrunk your grey cells (aka.... your brain).