So was ISRP/ERP w generous Cobra PKG paid for until Nov 2017. I have HDHP now (2 kids and I). I love the Tax-advantaged HSA, but I wonder if I should switch to one of the Non-HDHP plans if Intel will pick up the tab regardless. I do not intend to retire yet.
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Web address for paymemt. Left state for funeral and I left the web address at home. Expires tomorrow help please!
Wow. Color me wrong @1tpc. lol And thank you for educating me/us. AND for now plowing into me with both feet as so many others do on this site at the drop of a hat.
I'll have to look into that. I've been putting off getting a part time job until 2018 when coverage ends.
Thanks again.
-1ajr
@JKQACnM-1ajr. I know, thought the same, was told the same at recent local Medicare workshop. Got verbal and written confirmation from AON Hewitt and also AYCO that Intel is allowing this, overriding usual policy, and WILL pick up the tab for dual coverage. Call yourself and get name/document convo. It is also documented in the AYCO ERP preso and the Intel ERP Q&A.
Wrong. There is according to the IRS @-1olf.
@JKQACnM-rdx. According to the COBRA AE packet that arrived today, there is no premium/subsidy penalty to changing plans. Intel continues to pay the COBRA premium. Now, if you switch to copay vs deductible plan, you will at the start of the benefit year have to pay either the copay or s--- up the HDHP deductible. Given that you no longer have the HSA pretax benefit as a termed employee (or even post-tax if you are over 65), depending on your healthcare usage model, you may be better off switching. Read the materials and call the Aon Hewitt number if you need decision help.
How much of the Intel COBRA payment (until end of 12/31/2017) for ERP folks is considered as COBRA premium subsidy? the rules in the link apply to the subsidy part.
Thanks
https://www.irs.gov/uac/cobra-questions-and-answers-for-employees-and-former-employees
Once you become eligible for other group health coverage or Medicare, you're no longer eligible for the COBRA premium subsidy,
@JKQACnM-xar. Thankfully, you CAN change your COBRA coverage from what you had when you terminated--but only at Annual Enrollment, which happily is just around the corner. Some people asked at the AYCO info sessions if they could switch at termination as a 'qualifying event' but the answer there was no, you had to stick with what you had at termination. Once AE rolls around again, though, you can switch. Since you no longer get tax-advantaged HSA, that makes it possible that some will choose to switch out of an HDHP program.
I will be switching to the traditional copay plan with Intel Connected Care at Annual Enrollment. I am glad we even have that option--I was afraid COBRA meant we had to stick with what we had when we terminated. There is no reason to stick with HDHP since I can no longer get the tax advantage of the HSA pretax payroll contribution. In fact, because I am over 65, I can't contribute to an HSA anymore anyway, even post-tax. Those of us who are Medicare eligible are also lucky that the ERP included ability to have dual Medicare/COBRA coverage. Ordinarily, once you are Medicare eligible, you have to give up the COBRA. Medicare does not pay for everything (in fact, not much of what I need) and COBRA as secondary insurance mops up what's left over, especially if you met your deductible for 2016 already. Also, the Connected Care plan picks up maintenance prescriptions for chronic conditions at 100 percent, while basic Medicare Part B does not. So it is definitely an advantage for me to have the dual COBRA coverage.
So for people who have taken ERP and eligible for COBRA coverage until 12/31/2017, is the following understanding correct?
If they find a job with an employer that has health coverage plan, the employee can't refuse that new employer's plan and continue to get Intel COBRA until end of 2017 and enrol in the new plan after 2018? If they do that they have to pay a 110% penalty? what does "you're on the honor system with the IRS & Intel about that. " mean? does it mean there is no way of automatically detecting this?
Also, per following, is it easy to get a full time job classified as not eligible for health benefits? how does that work?
Thanks for any suggestions.
If one negotiates up front with a prospective employer to ensure your position is not marked for eligibility, you may be OK. There are multiple ways to do this (contract until 2018, have the job classified as not eligible for benefits, etc.).
I like my double coverage these days, thanks BK and those hard working Intel workers of which sadly another 4-7% will get cut in focal 2017 before ACT2
Sorry... I was telling @taj it doesn't poof, I wasn't talking to myself. LOL
Keep in mind I am talking about the ERP/VSP that ended on 6/24/16. I don't know how longer other COBRA coverage is for others.
-ptl
No, it doesn't poof @-ptl. LOL You're on the honor system with the IRS & Intel about that. See my other post on the topic:
https://www.thelayoff.com/t/JBe1y4H#replies
I'm -lfg on that thread.
-ptl
Re, ptl's comment ~40 minutes ago.
I took the 12mo COBRA option when I left Intel (ISP, COBRA runs through midnight 5/31/17 with Intel picking up the tab until then 100%).
If I accept a new job (say start date Nov 1st) with an employer who only offers HDHP plans (various contributions and thresholds, but all HDHP) I would hate to accept any HDHP plan for 2 months as I would not reach even the deductible much less the out-of-pocket max in 2 months (Nov & Dec).
I was optimally wishing to truck along with Intel/COBRA HDHP until Dec 31st and enjoy the OOP max I have met, then accept the new employers' HDHP enrollment starting for Jan 1st 2017 and start a whole 12-month plan with fresh deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums to reach.
Is ptl indicating that I would not have a choice and that Intel's HDHP under COBRA vanishes - poof! - the moment I accept, or even reject, an employment offer? I can't find reference to that circumstance in either my Intel info or online with general COBRA rules info.
Ignore for the moment my new employer's qualifying event criteria - I want to understand the Intel-side of this story.
For conceptualizing, in 2016 my family met the HDHP deductible before mid-Jan (!) and the OOP max in March. Genetic conditions requiring expensive drugs for wife & kids do that quickly...
This isn't true @xar: you can't alter your coverage. You continue to get what you had upon departure at Intel.
COBRA is NO different than having coverage from employment. You can't change it UNLESS you have a "qualifying event" OR at open enrollment time which is next month. So s/he can change to whatever they are offered during open enrollment for 2017.
To OP - I didn't say you had a new job, it was hard to figure out if you did or didn't by how you phrased your comment so I thought I'd toss that out. :)
As for me, the penalty doesn't worry me one bit. However, it's why I decided not to look for a job until 2018 when COBRA has ended as it's costing me nothing now. I doubt I could get medical for nothing elsewhere so stopped looking when I realized I wasn't even allowed to turn it down. Maybe I'll volunteer instead. I was just looking for something to do so was looking into part time jobs figuring they wouldn't pay medical. :) I was wrong, at least anywhere I'd like to work. lol
You are covered through 12/31/17, but you can't alter your coverage. You continue to get what you had upon departure at Intel.
Mine ends Nov 2017, it is in writing. My last day was eo May. Who said I accepted a job? I'm still searching. But that 110% penalty seems to worry you a lot! :o)
What I mean is if one had a Non-HDHP, one was supposed to have paycheck deductions while one was working. I think if I elect a non-HDHP now, Intel will pay for those paycheck deductions. My table shows "zero" for any option I choose.
I don't think your info is correct.... you're paid through December 2017 with the COBRA. They are paying for 18 months beginning July 2016, ending December 2017.
Unsure about your HDHP question. Is it one of the options that was recently mailed out to everyone the other day for Open Enrollment? If so, it's an option. And no, Intel isn't going to pick up the tab for anything other than what's been offered to you. If it says you owe something in the table, then you owe it.
As for your comment that you don't plan on retiring yet... You do realize there's a 110% penalty if you get offered a job with medical benefits, and turn it down, right? I posted about that recently. You can't even be offered in order to keep your paid COBRA.