Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

OP thank you for the heads up. The link you provided and the telephone number to opt out of AT&T Advantage is valuable information. Appreciate you taking the time to post this information. All the best to you.

Remember, if you are on traditional Medicare, and never had Medicare Advantage before, you may be able to try out AT&T's plan for a year and then return to the coverage you had before.
https://www.healthline.com/health/medicare/medicare-advantage-trial-period

Otherwise, if you have traditional Medicare, and try AT&T's plan, you won't be able to go back to traditional Medicare and access your Medigap (in most states¹) without underwriting, which means that the Medigap insurer will take your health condition into consideration before determining the premium, or whether they'll cover you at all.

The one thing that the HRA had was coverage for catostrophic dr-g charges, in that AT&T would reimburse your next $100,000 in prescription co-pays after you reach $5000 out-of-pocket.

Now, come 2025, there is supposed to be legislation that caps Part D at $2000, but the sky is the limit in 2024. AT&T's MAPD plan caps Part D at $6500 - no catastrophic stage. So, that coverage along with trial rights might be a one year fit. Some Part D dr-gs for cancer can run over $300,000 per year, so 5% co-pay can add up to $15,000. The HRA benefit could handle 6 of these. That $6500 cap can handle any amount of them.

¹ In Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York, people can switch to Medigap at the annual enrollment without underwriting.

Go over to FB and get a load of all the shills Stinky hired to push his Advantage Plan. Never trust the Stink!

I will get a better deal with my AETNA plan than with the AT&T plan. My advice is to look very very carefully. The AT&T plan generates $ from Medicare and the way it is configured net net it will be advantageous to add relatively young new retirees with fewer health related expenses. Stankey is once again ripping off employees and retirees.

OK everyone lost the stipend but going with the T plan is further agro.

When cash balance was initially instituted, the wear-away period was about 7 years, meaning if you were laid off during that interval you lost money.

To the commenter saying “We spent our careers working in the tech sector”

No, you did not. AT&T is not and never was a tech company - they are a telecom in denial of (and pays a lot of lobbying money to avoid) being a public utility.

Here's the plan.
https://retiree.uhc.com/att/coverage-and-benefits
A $900 annual out-of-pocket maximum for medical
*Pharmacy out-of-pocket maximum
When your total out-of-pocket costs (what you pay) reach $6,500 you will not pay any copay or coinsurance*

Come 2025, new legislation will cap pharma costs. But in 2024, the sky is the limit for most plans.

The bad news is, dental will cost $50 month, with a deductible. So, we've lost $2700 plus $600 more, when I was getting $0 med advantage with dental that had no deductible. I might still be doing better with a $0 med advantage plan.

How did they sc--w you with the Cash Balance Pension Plan? The cash balance pension plan ensures they can't take any money from it or change distributions later. Cash balance benefits the employee more than the employer. Just ask everyone that had their Company Pension payout % slashed about two years ago, leading a bunch of people over rule 75 to leave to try and save as much % as they could.

The plan is worse than nothing. Cutting the stipend is one thing, but give some thought as to why AT&T HR spent hundreds of thousands, maybe millions working on this fig leaf of a Medicare Advantage Plan when there are literally hundreds of Medicare Advantage Plans in the market already. Could it be that AT&T did it as a face-saving gesture? Could it be that there might have been some financial advantage for AT&T in coming up with the plan instead of just eliminating the stipend? It sure wasn't to protect AT&T retiree's interests.

We spent our careers working in the tech sector and thinking critically. Does Stankey think that we have all gone senile and lost our minds?