My H is 3 years older than I am so we have already determined we will both work at least until he is eligible for Medicare so that we would only have to find insurance for me.
I was fortunate that H opted to continue working until college was paid off for both kids and the mortgage. It was great that we had medical insurance and H brought family medical policy into retirement with him. He got Medicare A shortly after turning 65 but B 8 months after retiring—turned in the paperwork when he retired but had to walk over to the SS office twice to get his paperwork processed. He was 70!
Has anyone gotten student health insurance for themselves during this gap time before Medicare? I always thought that sounded like a low cost possibility.
I looked into group insurance for the small business I work for. We have about 6 employees who are interested. Unfortunately, the policy would be age-rated, and the youngest person is in his late 40s, oldest is 60, most in 50s.
In other words, the narrow network expensive individual plans are still the “best” option. Ouch.
Of course, it does depend on the medical demographics of the employer. COBRA from an employer with an older workforce, or one with an above average percentage of people with expensive medical conditions, will be more expensive than COBRA from an employer with a younger workforce without a lot of expensive medical conditions.
Also, at employers where there is a choice of medical plans, consider carefully while employed which medical plan you would prefer if you were paying full (COBRA) price for it (as opposed to the smaller employee share after employer subsidy).
@me29034 and @showmom858 and anyone else who is no more than three years younger than the insured spouse, your total period of COBRA coverage can be extended for 36 months if your spouse becomes entitled to to Medicare after terminating employment. It is called a second qualifying event. There is more info here:
https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Other-Insurance-Protections/cobra_fact_sheet.html
That may help bridge you to your own Medicare eligibility.
^^correct, but in the OP’s case, Hubby would have to retire while 64, go on COBRA and then age into Medicare. Depending on the birth days, 36 additional months may not cover OP until she is 65 (but can get close).
http://www.healthcostinstitute.org/files/Age-Curve-Study_0.pdf describes how medical costs vary by age. Compared to 30 year old people, average medical costs for 64 year old people are about double for women and about five times for men. (At age 30, women have higher medical costs than men due to pregnancy and childbirth related costs.)
I really appreciate all your comments and PMs - thanks! Life is too short to keep working solely for the health insurance, but life is also too unpredictable to live without health insurance.
another thing to remember and add to posts #24 & #25: COBRA rules also very by employer size.
I feel for all of you who have to worry not only about affording retirement but also healthcare coverage.