I know there are many insurance threads on CC, and I’m guessing this has been addressed before, but I don’t feel like wading through all those discussions…
For those who have retired early (before 65 years old) - what have you done for health insurance? I am 59 years old and I’d really like to retire in 2-3 years. (Husband is 63 years old, so he can see Medicare from where he’s sitting, but I’m not so close.) I cannot get retiree health benefits from my employer, although H MAY be able to get retiree health insurance for us.
I have Type 1.5 diabetes, which make me hard to insure, even though I’m a model patient and have great numbers.
So - what do you do? If your answer is “I use my spouse’s insurance,” well, that’s nice, but that may not be available to me. Are there any other options I’m not seeing? It’s getting to the point that I may have to keep working just for the health care, and that thought makes me very grouchy.
You get insurance through the ACA. You are guaranteed to be able to buy it, without reference to any health conditions you may have. It will cost a lot of money if your family makes more than 400% of the Federal Poverty Line, which would be about $66,000 a year for a family of two.
If you retire in the middle of the year, and cannot buy insurance from your former employer via COBRA, you can buy ACA insurance right then.
Some people in some states may be able to buy insurance more cheaply through association plans. Those plans are not available to people with Type I diabetes or other expensive pre-existing conditions. As of now, however, you are guaranteed to be able to buy ACA insurance.
Although you can’t get retiree health benefits from your employer, I believe they are required to provide COBRA benefits to you (not sure if state or federal law covers this). COBRA is expensive but will guarantee you continue with your current providers.
The first thing is to investigate COBRA. With COBRA, you can have the insurance now, but you will have to pay your portion and the company’s portion of your premium. The full premium could be a shock; a lot of people are surprised how much their insurance is costing.
OTOH, COBRA premiums are not age-rated, so they could be an excellent deal for you, since you’d be paying the same as a 20-year-old. ACA premiums are age-rated, and those of us in the 60+ age range pay a ton.
Neither H or I get health insurance through work. We are in our mid-50s and we individual plans directly through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Sadly, it’s very expensive and the networks are shockingly narrow.
Also check with any organizations you belong to (alumni or professional associations, etc) which may offer access to group plans. They may not save you a ton of money, but the available networks may be better in your area.
Aside from the diabetes, we were in the same boat. We did Cobra and now have BCBS through the ACA. It is very expensive but at this point, there is no other option. We pay about $2000 a month. Ouch!
Spouses are eligible for COBRA for longer than employees are. (Maybe because The Powers That Be figure that it’s not your fault if your spouse loses a job?)
Whether this can help you depends on when your husband retires and when you do. If you retire before he does and go on his insurance at that time and then he retires, you are eligible for COBRA for longer than you would have been if you were on your own employer’s insurance and you simply retired.
Of course, COBRA costs an arm and a leg. But at least it exists, and I don’t think that the government is likely to take it away from us, the way they might with ACA.
For people who are 60 years old or older, COBRA will probably be either cheaper than ACA insurance or way better, with lower deductibles and/or better networks. That is because COBRA is not age-adjusted but ACA insurance is.
I’m 63, and on days when the noise and bright lights of the cubicle farm drive me crazy, I remind myself that at the end of September, I’ll be old enough (63 1/2) so that I could quit my job, go back to the freelance work I used to do, and use COBRA for the remaining 18 months until I’m eligible for Medicare.
I probably won’t quit my job, but it’s nice to know that I’m only 3 months away from having the freedom to do so without having to count on the continued existence and dubious quality of ACA.
Married people go through their adult lives realizing that at any given time, only one of them has to have a standard full-time job with benefits. That person can provide health insurance for the other spouse. Then all of a sudden, you’re in your 60s, and you suddenly become aware that you can’t bring your spouse with you onto Medicare, the way you always could with health insurance that you got as an employee benefit. It’s a significant gap in the system.
This is a timely post as we are also considering early retirement. Our insurance is currently through H’s employer. We are considering retiring next summer when H is 64 and I am 59. We can do COBRA for one year, then he goes on medicare and I have to find something else. The problem is that I once had a very serious medical condition that no longer bothers me at all, but it is considered a “syndrome” that can reoccur and cause lasting problems so the diagnosis is still there. We are concerned that the ACA will go away and I will become uninsurable. We are considering delaying the retirement just to make sure that I am covered.
DH was self-employed and is now retired. We get insurance through our state exchange (ACA), and it’s expensive, but we wouldn’t consider not having insurance. I’ll be on Medicare in 2 years, DH in 16 months. We keep our fingers crossed that premiums don’t get too out of hand until then, but we’re not hopeful.
Alumni associations, professional orgs and universities sometimes offer health insurance. You have to check the requirements as well as whether the insurance will meet your needs. You many have to take a minimum number of credits to qualify as a student for student health insurance, but those tend to be pretty inexpensive premiums, if I recall. It isn’t an ideal solution but is IS something to consider.