I am fortunate that I have a good idea of what tests, etc. I will need each year. Our health coverage was ending abruptly and honestly, I just looked for a plan that was close to what I was losing. This wasn’t a planned for retirement and I was told Cobra wouldn’t be available due to H’s eligibility for Medicare. I think there are definite advantages to working with an agent. I just went to the Anthem BC/BS website and applied for individual coverage. Happily it all worked out.
1 Like
There is an office at each State Dept of Health, Office on Aging that has an office (often called SHIP) that helps sort out the medicare options. They may also be able to shed light on pre-Medicare options as well.
I have not used them because I am very fortunate we were able to keep H’s federal BCBS in retirement after his 45 years of working there. We have that to supplement our Medicare A&B. I have referred people to them and been at presentations made by them.
1 Like
I tried lots of different avenues and what I have is the cheapest available. It’s shameful. I’m seriously tempted to go without insurance. I probably will the last few months before I turn 65.
Oh, please don’t.
This year, out of the blue, with no asthma or allergy history, I had an acute reactive airway episode, resulting in 2 ER visits -one 3 day hospitalization with ICU consult (not ICU admission!), no surgery. The bills were over 100K. Can’t imagine a few months of premiums will amount to that.
6 Likes
Agree on the benefits of keep coverage!
I got cancer out of the blue after being a life-longer runnner, vegetarian with zero health issues prior. Treatment would have bankrupted the family and at had to be done immediately.
4 Likes
Yeah, I know. Ugh.
3 Likes
You are so wise to be researching this as you contemplate retirement scenarios. The people I know who have been able to get cheap-ish ACA rates have situations with very low taxable income (ie living off savings).
Another angle is to explore options to reduce work hours. Some employers cover healthcare with 30 hrs/week.
1 Like
My mom didn’t understand why we wouldn’t allow S’s medical coverage to lapse for a few months because he was young and fairly healthy. I told her it was so I could sleep at night. It just seems medical insurance covers one of our biggest risks by far—medical bills can easily be huge and unexpected.
3 Likes
I can understand the temptation to drop it, but I’m just too paranoid for that. I’m too unlucky. That’s why I’ve actually kept younger S on our accident insurance even though he’s independent in every other way. He’s still eligible for 3 more years. It’s not much more than just having H and me. And even then it’s cheap. $550 for the year, but I get back $400 for showing we went to 4 doctors for any reason total (eye, dentist, medical), so it’s really only $150/year.
And younger S has a hellish commute. I felt like if I dropped him, he’d get in an accident. He doesn’t even know he’s on it. It’s mostly for my piece of mind.
(He’s also been my primary user of the insurance over the years - broken arms, foot and rhabdo. I must say it pays well)
1 Like
Our S was happy to stay on our family policy until he aged out—under ACA, that was when he turned 26. He was fully employed at an employer who offered to pay 66% of his premiums but free coverage was better for him. Haha! We had a family policy anyway because we needed D covered. It’s only a savings of under $10/month if we switch to single + one. Not really any incentive to change.
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.