USA Health insurance from 62 to 65 if you want to retire.

[kathy884]

I'm hoping to work in my current position till Medicare kicks in. Having good health insurance coverage is certainly a perk of continuing to work till 65. But so is a nice salary with the stock market down lol. I like my job reasonably well too and get 28 days a year of vacation which really works well for me (pretty much gives me the time off that I'd like).

DH retired four years ago at 65 (not his choice), but he is enjoying retirement and isn't looking for another job. And he just signed up for Medicare Part A and went on my insurance rather than doing other Medicare parts (including part B) and a supplement. I'm 62 and if I have the opportunity to continue working till I'm 65 in my current position, at least my thoughts for the moment are that I think I will. And yes my group health insurance and how much we'd have to pay without it is certainly one of the considerations but by no means the only one.

 

[barkley]

I'm hoping to work in my current position till Medicare kicks in. Having good health insurance coverage is certainly a perk of continuing to work till 65. But so is a nice salary with the stock market down lol. I like my job reasonably well too and get 28 days a year of vacation which really works well for me (pretty much gives me the time off that I'd like).

DH retired four years ago at 65 (not his choice), but he is enjoying retirement and isn't looking for another job. And he just signed up for Medicare Part A and went on my insurance rather than doing other Medicare parts (including part B) and a supplement. I'm 62 and if I have the opportunity to continue working till I'm 65 in my current position, at least my thoughts for the moment are that I think I will. And yes my group health insurance and how much we'd have to pay without it is certainly one of the considerations but by no means the only one.

make sure to hold on to/store in a safe place those yearly statements you get from your employer's hr that shows the details on your coverage so that if when you retire your dh decides to go for full blown medicare he won't incur the financial penalty for late enrollment. thank goodness i'm a pack rat with old paperwork b/c when we decided to exit my retiree health plan i thought 'no problem, i can get verification from h/r or the insurance company' um-nope! found out my h/r doesn't keep that (they pointed out that was why the yearly statements had big notices on them to 'retain for your records') and then found that the insurance company might be going by the same name but that didn't mean it had'nt splintered off multiple times into different entities, none of whom retained the prior's records. thankfully i found the old yearly statements to submit.

 

[clh2]

My DH retired in November of 2022. He will be 65 in Sept 2023.

The plan is for me to continue working until March 2025, and then I will probably use Cobra until I turn 65 in June 2026, and DH will transfer to Medicare.

We’ve already looked at 2023 rates for Cobra and the ACA, and they are pretty comparable.

 

[Eastern]

make sure to hold on to/store in a safe place those yearly statements you get from your employer's hr that shows the details on your coverage so that if when you retire your dh decides to go for full blown medicare he won't incur the financial penalty for late enrollment.

They come around Jan-Feb tax time: file with your tax returns.

 

[lanejudy]

They come around Jan-Feb tax time: file with your tax returns.

Mine always comes during my company’s open enrollment - so usually early November.

 

[Eastern]

Mine always comes during my company’s open enrollment - so usually early November.

This is for 1095B which is usually mailed out for the tax year and arrives Jan-Feb of the following year.

 

[snowwite]

I would leave tomorrow if not for the insurance. ACA coverage is expensive and lousy. Need to wait for Mediare and a supplement

Same here.

 

[jimmymc]

It will almost definitely be better for someone to work part time just for the health benefits. If that's not possible, then ACA is usually the best place to look but it won't be cheap.

 

[rnorwo1]

has your dh looked into what the retiree share of cost runs where he will retire from? this is one of the biggest shocks many retirees face upon retirement b/c employers tend not to publish the retiree rates to active employees-and they can at minimum run 100% higher. i've experienced this first hand and have seen friends/family devastated to learn of it too close to retirement to change their plans and either extend their employment until they can get medicare or have the time to fully explore less expensive options within the marketplace.

Yikes, I didn't realize this was a thing. Hoping DH can retire early in 5 years (because his job is killing him), but he can get on my work's insurance if necessary. I assume, though, that when I retire he would not be able to be covered by mine?

 

[HopperFan]

Not every state supports ACA ~ ours does not. Costs can be very high for anything more than catastrophic insurance in those states.

My son was off our insurance but still in college and working as independent contractor for few years. Minimal salary and paying a big chunk of change for catastrophic because our state does not accept ACA, so there was no supplements to help offset his cost.

 

[lanejudy]

I assume, though, that when I retire he would not be able to be covered by mine?

That really all depends on what your employer offers as retiree benefits. Some offer coverage (like Cobra) for early retirement until reaching Medicare age, others offer nothing. Some offer a retiree health plan that may be like Medicare Advantage or may be a supplement offering to pair with original Medicare, some (most) offer nothing to retirees. Whether or not retiree benefits are available to spouses is yet another layer of finding out what your (or his) company offers. Also be aware that whatever costs are associated with the retiree offerings can (and often do) change over time, so it's not a locked-in rate.

 

[rnorwo1]

That really all depends on what your employer offers as retiree benefits. Some offer coverage (like Cobra) for early retirement until reaching Medicare age, others offer nothing. Some offer a retiree health plan that may be like Medicare Advantage or may be a supplement offering to pair with original Medicare, some (most) offer nothing to retirees. Whether or not retiree benefits are available to spouses is yet another layer of finding out what your (or his) company offers. Also be aware that whatever costs are associated with the retiree offerings can (and often do) change over time, so it's not a locked-in rate.

Great information, thanks!

 

[tvguy]

That really all depends on what your employer offers as retiree benefits. Some offer coverage (like Cobra) for early retirement until reaching Medicare age, others offer nothing. Some offer a retiree health plan that may be like Medicare Advantage or may be a supplement offering to pair with original Medicare, some (most) offer nothing to retirees. Whether or not retiree benefits are available to spouses is yet another layer of finding out what your (or his) company offers. Also be aware that whatever costs are associated with the retiree offerings can (and often do) change over time, so it's not a locked-in rate.

To be clear, COBRA health coverage of your existing employer healthcare is required under Federal Law. Retirement has nothing to do with that requirement. Leaving your job for any reason triggers that requirement. And COBRA coverage under FEDERAL LAW is 18 months, NOT until your reach Medicare age of 65. So if you retire more than 18 months before your Medicare age, you will need to find other health insurance to fill that gap.
And some states have their own laws. In California, if your company is California based, the CAL COBRA coverage requirement is for 36 months.
That is a long answer to underscore your need to do your homework before you retire.

 

[wdwfan51]

As I understand it only employers with 20+ employees have to offer COBRA. Small employers are exempt from this. ACA May be the only option for some.

 

[lanejudy]

And COBRA coverage under FEDERAL LAW is 18 months, NOT until your reach Medicare age of 65.

I said something “like Cobra” but I didn’t mean to imply it was Cobra. Some employers may offer an early retirement benefit of continuing access to employee healthcare coverage until a retiree reaches Medicare eligibility.

 

[tvguy]

I said something “like Cobra” but I didn’t mean to imply it was Cobra. Some employers may offer an early retirement benefit of continuing access to employee healthcare coverage until a retiree reaches Medicare eligibility.

Got. Just wanted to make sure some folks weren't confused, because it is confusing enough.

 

[Dznypal]

I retired at 61 when we were taken over by a new health system. DH was already retired with pension on the ACA for a few months. The com I retired from put me down as job elimation rather then retired so I qualified for unemployment so they gave me severance which then when into SS started at 62. And ACA which like others have said wasn’t the best and even with the subsidies was expensive. But one day we went to the local casino to play bingo. Who would have ever thought I’d win a jackpot. Which then pushed us over the limit for the subsidies so come around tax time we owed 24000 Thst was sure a shock. Good thing we have an excellent financial planner who got us into some investments Thst lowered our taxable income so we ended up getting a nice refund. All ended good but yikes. Talk about stress.