Can anyone share the cost of COBRA if you retire prior to 65? Honeywell pays about 2/3rds of insurance cost while employed. So wondering if I can just look at what I’m having deducted now monthly and multiply by 3? Not sure Honeywell escalates this cost, but guessing its possible. I know there are different levels of plans, and family or spouse, but just wanted to check with someone who is/has actually paid a COBRA premium after leaving Honeywell employ.
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I went on the affordable care act (Obama care) 90% less that cobra (in PA) as long as your income is not over 75k nd basically using savings or roth to supplement retirement income from Social security or other taxable income. Another tip keep maxing out HSA until medicare kicks in at 65. Amazing tax advantages and it's treated like a 401k plan if monies are needed...
Being on Medicaid I had no problem with medical and dental. I use a local medical health center that has both in the same location. They covered some pretty extensive testing when I started experiencing vertigo. It turns out I was reacting to some medication for pre-diabetes.
Vision was another story. Not many optometrists accept Medicaid in my area. I went to one twice and they couldn't get the prescription quite right. I decided I would not be returning. Last year I contacted America's Best and was told that they do accept it. Ohio runs Medicaid through United Healthcare Community Plan. After the exam and preparing the order, she checked and it turns out they do accept United but not the community plan. I went ahead and ordered the glasses and paid for them using my Flex account. The prescription was spot on!
This year the only one in the area that accepts Medicaid turned out to be Walmart. I used them once years ago so I will be trying them again this year. Appointment is next month.
I like the live on cash and qualify for medicaid plan. Were you able to use the same doctors, or did you just had this for catastrophic medical issues?
Jhgc5a87 - great answer, exactly what I (OP) was looking for. Great planning on your part by the way!
I am in similar situation and don’t require pension or social security until 67 and I have enough cash on hand until then, so I qualify for Medicaid as well, just wasn’t sure if i could use same doctors in my network.
I did some initial calculations with converting IRA to Roths, and I was able to get $2k monthly tax credit to offset AMA costs, but haven’t shopped to see what that buys.
Did you look into that between age 65-73 to convert as much to non-taxable before RMD’s kick in?
I retired in 2021 at the age of 61. I had worked until the the end of April so I had 4 months of pay. I also had had a sizable 401k (now an IRA and has been untouched). I also had several years of overtime sitting in the bank. My pension brings in about $13000 per year. Plans are to start SS this year.
Initially, I went to ACA and got a plan through Anthem for about $400 per month. With ACA you input projected income for the year and it gives you a subsidized amount. For the 1st year it ended with a projected income of roughly $45,000. The 2nd year, since I have been supplementing my pension with my bank account, my actual income was only $13,000. When I attempted to enroll in ACA, it said that I was below the poverty level and that I would automatically be enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid covers everything including vision and dental and has automatically renewed every year.
This year I will be 65 and will begin Medicare and SS. I am currently researching Advantage programs for my supplemental insurance.
I never even considered using Cobra. The price just seemed to high. I would suggest checking into the cost of Cobra vs. ACA.
I was paying $37.03 for dental, $614.85 for medical, and $9.34 for vision when I retired before 65 in 2023. I am sure it has gone up since then, but that my monthly cost (just for me).
COBRA consists of the insurance cost that the employee pays + the company's contribution + a 2% administration fee. You can find the total value of your health insurance from 2023 year by looking at box DD on your W2. You can also find your contribution and the company contribution from alight portal (http://digital.alight.com/honeywell) under Your Total Rewards -> Health & Insurance.
$1500 for employee + spouse sounds about right for medical & dental.
Add your healthcare costs to Honeywell's contribution and then add a 10% service charge.
1500 for the wife and I.