Early Retiree MegaCorp Health Insurance Coverage

[friedmmj]

My hire date occurred just before my employer discontinued retiree health coverage for new hires so I am grandfathered into retiree health benefits.  My company offers early retirement at 55 which is the age I'm planning to retire.  The only facts I've been able to ascertain about the retiree health plan is that the company subsidizes part of the pre-Medicare coverage and the retiree pays part (similar to active employee arrangement).  What I cannot get, is any details around the actual cost.  I haven't notified the company yet since I'm a couple years away from retiring and I don't want to press the issue with HR for fear of them leaking this to my management.

I'd be interested to know if anyone here has retired from MegaCorp with similar coverage for 55 year old early retirees and how much you pay for coverage (married and spouse doesn't work).

[ixtap]

For the plans I have looked at, the retiree premium was the same as an employee premium.

However, that doesn't help you at all if your plan is different. Is it a big company? Is there a benefits website? Retiree brochure? Do you know anyone who retired?

[MDM]

For the plans I have looked at, the retiree premium was the same as an employee premium.

However, that doesn't help you at all if your plan is different. Is it a big company? Is there a benefits website? Retiree brochure? Do you know anyone who retired?

+1

For a different division of MegaCorp, retiree premiums are more expensive than active employee premiums.

[rosarugosa]

I was an "early" retiree from a megacorp and I get retiree health and dental through my former employer.  As an employee, they paid 75% and I paid 25%, but I forget what my contribution worked out to be.  I was with the company for 39 years, so I am getting the max contribution from the company as a retiree, but I'm currently paying about $950 per month for myself and spouse.  It is a lot more than I was paying as an active employee.  I think I was paying in the ballpark of $200 - $300 per month. My plan has a $600 per person dedt, OOP max of $3000 per person, and an 80/20 split for most services.  Most routine preventative care is covered at 100%, no deductible.  Dental has a $100 dedt, $2000 per year max benefit and preventative covered at 100%. A fact worth noting is that the retiree pool is a higher risk/higher cost/higher premium group so the percentage contribution from the employer is relative to a higher number, if that makes sense.  For example, if the premium for active employee was $500 per month and employer is paying 75%, that is much different than if the premium is $1000 per month and employer is paying 75%. I hope that helps.

[CSuzette]

I don’t qualify for subsidized retiree medical but we do have retiree medical. I called our provider and got an estimate. Since I have an HSA it would be 10K a year and without the HSA would e 20K a year. Not cheap!

[jim555]

At my Megacorp you would get the employer plan at 50% of cost.  They pay for $150 for Medigap policies.

[flyingaway]

With work years + age > 75, if I retire from my university and buy their health insurance in 2019-2020, the price will be $502 for me and $836 for my wife for a total of $1,338 per month.

[The_Dude]

My employer has a sliding scale based on years of service and other eligibility requirements.  They pay between 25% and 75% of the premium.  This compares to active employees where on my plan they pay about 88% of the premium.  My employer also shows you what they pay for all benefits including health insurance.  Total cost of the plan (including employee and employer contributions) is just under $2,500 per month.  This is also better insurance than I've had in my career or the few people I've ever compared health insurance with.  The kind you can't get on the open market as an individual.

[Paul der Krake]

My hire date occurred just before my employer discontinued retiree health coverage for new hires so I am grandfathered into retiree health benefits.  My company offers early retirement at 55 which is the age I'm planning to retire.  The only facts I've been able to ascertain about the retiree health plan is that the company subsidizes part of the pre-Medicare coverage and the retiree pays part (similar to active employee arrangement).  What I cannot get, is any details around the actual cost.  I haven't notified the company yet since I'm a couple years away from retiring and I don't want to press the issue with HR for fear of them leaking this to my management.

An easy way around this is to have someone else do the asking for you, perhaps a colleague who cares less about what his management chain thinks of them.

Alternatively, find an ex-employee taking advantage of said benefits and ask them.

[friedmmj]

My hire date occurred just before my employer discontinued retiree health coverage for new hires so I am grandfathered into retiree health benefits.  My company offers early retirement at 55 which is the age I'm planning to retire.  The only facts I've been able to ascertain about the retiree health plan is that the company subsidizes part of the pre-Medicare coverage and the retiree pays part (similar to active employee arrangement).  What I cannot get, is any details around the actual cost.  I haven't notified the company yet since I'm a couple years away from retiring and I don't want to press the issue with HR for fear of them leaking this to my management.

An easy way around this is to have someone else do the asking for you, perhaps a colleague who cares less about what his management chain thinks of them.

Alternatively, find an ex-employee taking advantage of said benefits and ask them.

I was able to do that with one person who retired a couple years ago, but she went onto her husband's benefits which were more generous.  She told me anecdotally that one of her friends who also worked at our company found out that she was eligible for retiree health benefits but they did not extend to her husband.  WTF?

[friedmmj]

At my Megacorp you would get the employer plan at 50% of cost.  They pay for $150 for Medigap policies.

UPDATE
So. I decided to throw caution to the wind and just asked HR directly.  I explained that I am just prepping for a meeting with a financial planner and not actually firm in any plans to retire.

The cost for my family will be approx $1150 per month.  That will drop to around $750 once my kids (who will be 20 and 22 when I retire) get onto their own plans by age 26.  That plan has much better deductibles and maximum annual out of pocket spend than the Silver ACA plans that are available in my state.  So I'm pretty OK with the information and relieved a bit.  Someone led me to believe it would be closer to 2 grand a month.  At age 62 the company pays the full cost for the employee but apparently I will still need to pay something to cover my wife.