Retiree Medical

[CSuzette]

I am qualified for retiree medical at my job and I have a HSA. When I retire they said that I transfer to the retiree HSA and premiums are 794 a month or about 10K a year. Since I currently pay about. 116 a month and I know employer pays something but this seems like a lot.  Does that sound right to you?  Would an individual plan HSA be cheaper?  Thank you.

[seattlecyclone]

Many employers provide heavy subsidies for their employee health insurance plans. Employers have been required to disclose this amount on Box 12 of W-2s for a few years now, look for code DD to see how much this has been in your personal case.

An individual plan through Obamacare may or may not be cheaper depending on your health situation and income. Too many variables to give a one-size-fits-all answer there, and then of course there's the political risk that the Obamacare plans may not even be available in a few years.

[terran]

I'm not surprised by those numbers. The employer often pays the vast majority of the health insurance premiums. You pay stub will often show the amount your employer currently pays towards your benefits package.

It seems likely that you could get cheaper health insurance on the ACA marketplace if you can keep your income within 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) such that you receive subsidies. If not it will also be quite expensive. All of this depends on where you live, so you'll need to do some local research to see what your options are.

[CSuzette]

Thank you for your replies!  I forgot to ask whether it is going to matter if I move to another state.  I guess plans do not cross state lines. When the time gets closer I guess I will worry about it :)

[wenchsenior]

It sounds like you will be responsible for all of the health insurance premiums in retirement, whereas your employer used to pay a big chunk of them.  Is that correct?

Health insurance premiums are all over the place, but 10K/year doesn't sound crazy to me.  We are covered by the (non HSA) federal plan for Employee + Spouse, and total premiums run about 20K/year. We pay ~1/3 of it, Feds pay the rest of that cost.  So if we had to pick up the total cost it would be ~10K/year/person.

[Not There Yet]

I have retiree medical (for retirees under 65) and I pay about that amount for a plan with a $6,000 deductible.  I doubt I could find a comparable policy on the ACA Exchange in my state (Arizona).  The selection is dismal.