65 and Ineligible for Medicare? What a disaster!

[Co2012]

Why not ask the school district? I believe they were supposed to offer you the choice and document your answer. You may have caught them having slipped up and you may have some recourse. Or, they may pull your file and show you where you signed a slip saying you chose to opt out and you've forgotten (as I most likely would have ).

You won't know unless you ask.

Nope. I signed nothing. I'm very familiar with what is in my personnel file as I worked in a position where I had access to my file and could and did look at it at will.

New employees does sign that medicare form.

To make sure, I am going to ask a friend to access my records to make sure I did not overlook it. I am going to ask her to look at my friend's also and go from there.

 

[samclem]

While unfortunate, I do not know how a person could not pay into the system and expect to receive the benefit. Paystubs clearly show deductions.

+1. Or even if a person never examined the pay stub (why not?), don't teachers talk to each other about this stuff? It's just surprising that a person could work all that time and never be exposed to this issue. Union folks, HR reps, district personnel, the other teachers in the lounge or at inservice training: No one ever said "Remember, you won't be covered by Medicare"?

Well, be that as it may, I think she should consider earning the credits through a part-time job, if she is able. It wouldn't take very long.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Nope. I signed nothing. I'm very familiar with what is in my personnel file as I worked in a position where I had access to my file and could and did look at it at will.

New employees does sign that medicare form.

To make sure, I am going to ask a friend to access my records to make sure I did not overlook it. I am going to ask her to look at my friend's also and go from there.

Shouldn't your friend do this on her own?

 

[Co2012]

Your friend should investigate finishing her SS eligibility. The fact that she has 33 quarters and made no effort to finish up with some sort of minimal employment situation points to the fact that she really was naive about SS and Medicare. What was she thinking?

If she studies the rules for earning SS and Medicare credits, she may be pleasantly surprised at how little time and earnings it takes. If she finishes the required credits, not only will she have lower health insurance costs, she'll get a tiny SS check every month. If she lives to a ripe old age, the reduced HI costs plus the modest monthly SS check could add up to be significant.

She doesn't have to take a full time job to earn the credits.

This lady is very naive on so many levels, especially when it comes to finance. This may make some people mad but I tried to tell her years ago to stop tithing 10% of her salary as she could not afford it. If she had put some of that money into some type of retirement fund for the past 40 years, she be doing well by now and not on the verge of being foreclosed.

You are so right about getting the extra points. I did mention this to her before but not in regard to medicare but in regard to getting the small social security check because she needed more income. I suggested she go back to sub teach but she would not hear of that because her last year was so traumatic. Now she's talking selling Avon. I might be wrong but I don't think there's much money in that.

 

[powerplay]

This lady is very naive on so many levels, especially when it comes to finance. This may make some people mad but I tried to tell her years ago to stop tithing 10% of her salary as she could not afford it. If she had put some of that money into some type of retirement fund for the past 40 years, she be doing well by now and not on the verge of being foreclosed.

You are so right about getting the extra points. I did mention this to her before but not in regard to medicare but in regard to getting the small social security check because she needed more income. I suggested she go back to sub teach but she would not hear of that because her last year was so traumatic. Now she's talking selling Avon. I might be wrong but I don't think there's much money in that.

Perhaps she could consider tutoring? Maybe as an employee for a company offering such services. Avon doesn't sound very exciting to me at least.

 

[powerplay]

As a Federal employee under the CSRS we started paying into medicare in 1983. This was not a choice. I had to search to find the date as I didn't remember exactly the year.

I have some years under SS although not enough for 40 quarters which could qualify me for a much reduced SS payment. At one point I thought it would be good to work for a bit and earn the last 3 or so credits to qualify. As the retirement years go by the thought of working ever again becomes a very remote possibility. I love being retired!

Good luck to your friend OP. It sounds like she may need to work a bit longer and would benefit from both full medicare coverage and a little bit of SS. It's probably a tough decision to make.

 

[Dreamer]

The tutoring idea sounds great. Depending on where she lives, she could make pretty good money.

 

[Mulligan]

This lady is very naive on so many levels, especially when it comes to finance. This may make some people mad but I tried to tell her years ago to stop tithing 10% of her salary as she could not afford it. If she had put some of that money into some type of retirement fund for the past 40 years, she be doing well by now and not on the verge of being foreclosed.

You are so right about getting the extra points. I did mention this to her before but not in regard to medicare but in regard to getting the small social security check because she needed more income. I suggested she go back to sub teach but she would not hear of that because her last year was so traumatic. Now she's talking selling Avon. I might be wrong but I don't think there's much money in that.

I wouldn't get her hopes up much to earn SS income. I imagine since she has a pension excluding SS payment, the WEP will take a nice chunk away from anything she would be expecting to receive. I "earned" enough SS income to be eligible for almost $500 a month when eligible, but after running it through the WEP calculator it was only a little over a hundred bucks a month.

 

[youbet]

The tutoring idea sounds great. Depending on where she lives, she could make pretty good money.

+1

She either needs to work for a company that provides tutoring services and issues her a W2 or have an accountant help her set up her own business so she can pay self-employed SS and Medicare until she has the necessary quarters in.

Sometimes a person who needs just a few quarters SS credit is able to hook up with a business owning friend who provides a bit of employment to get just over the line.......

 

[youbet]

I wouldn't get her hopes up much to earn SS income. I imagine since she has a pension excluding SS payment, the WEP will take a nice chunk away from anything she would be expecting to receive. I "earned" enough SS income to be eligible for almost $500 a month when eligible, but after running it through the WEP calculator it was only a little over a hundred bucks a month.

WEP and GPO alone are enough of a reason that teachers and other state and municipal employees not covered by SS need to demand to be added to the SS system.

 

[Co2012]

Shouldn't your friend do this on her own?

Bestwife,

She can contact the system herself but it will be much simpler if I were to do it. She would have to write asking permission to view her file and set up an appt. I would not have to do that.

I did not want to mention it before because I did not want to cloud the issue but she is currently dealing with a fire in her home and had to be relocated to a hotel. That in itself is a nightmare so I'm trying to do what I can.

 

[Co2012]

+1. Or even if a person never examined the pay stub (why not?), don't teachers talk to each other about this stuff? It's just surprising that a person could work all that time and never be exposed to this issue. Union folks, HR reps, district personnel, the other teachers in the lounge or at inservice training: No one ever said "Remember, you won't be covered by Medicare"?

Well, be that as it may, I think she should consider earning the credits through a part-time job, if she is able. It wouldn't take very long.

I don't want to give the impression that we were too, too, dumb maybe kind of. When we first started working, we were young and dumb and so happy to have all these free benefits. We knew we did not pay into medicare but it did not seem so farfetched that we thought this was a benefit that the school system was picking up.

In thinking back, I remember having a conversation with a group of ladies regarding someone complaining that she made less than someone else in her same job code and we realized it was because she paid into Medicare and we did not. It was thought at that time that the school system had to be paying it for us. I wonder how many of us actually made it a point to find out for sure. I know I did not as I truly thought it was a given it was being paid for us.

 

[Mulligan]

I don't want to give the impression that we were too, too, dumb maybe kind of. When we first started working, we were young and dumb and so happy to have all these free benefits. We knew we did not pay into medicare but it did not seem so farfetched that we thought this was a benefit that the school system was picking up.

In thinking back, I remember having a conversation with a group of ladies regarding someone complaining that she made less than someone else in her same job code and we realized it was because she paid into Medicare and we did not. It was thought at that time that the school system had to be paying it for us. I wonder how many of us actually made it a point to find out for sure. I know I did not as I truly thought it was a given it was being paid for us.

Of course you were dumb and happy and I was too my first several years (ok maybe a few more than that). I mean seriously I don't think I ever heard a 22 year old 30 years ago bragging about becoming a teacher because of the nice pension plan. Heck I thought of it as a "burdensome tax" back then. My personal observations over the years most teachers were not very sophisticated in finances. Seemed like two extremes. The ones who thought since they were professionals they should be afforded the lifestyle of a professional, which means they got in debt. Saving was never a priority because where I am from, you work your 30 years, the take home pension check was the same as the working check. There was a smaller but very frugal group, the old live on one income save the other type. I seemed to be one of the few in the middle. But halfway through my career I realized financially retirement wise it was better bang for the buck to move up the career ladder than to try and save my way to a comfortable lifestyle.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Bestwife,

She can contact the system herself but it will be much simpler if I were to do it. She would have to write asking permission to view her file and set up an appt. I would not have to do that.

I did not want to mention it before because I did not want to cloud the issue but she is currently dealing with a fire in her home and had to be relocated to a hotel. That in itself is a nightmare so I'm trying to do what I can.

It really does not seem right that you can get access to someone's else's personnel file like this; she would have to write to ask permission and set up an appointment but you can just get into it? Aren't there privacy safeguards no matter how good your intentions are?

 

[Sarpy]

Of course you were dumb and happy and I was too my first several years (ok maybe a few more than that). I mean seriously I don't think I ever heard a 22 year old 30 years ago bragging about becoming a teacher because of the nice pension plan. Heck I thought of it as a "burdensome tax" back then. My personal observations over the years most teachers were not very sophisticated in finances. Seemed like two extremes. The ones who thought since they were professionals they should be afforded the lifestyle of a professional, which means they got in debt. Saving was never a priority because where I am from, you work your 30 years, the take home pension check was the same as the working check. There was a smaller but very frugal group, the old live on one income save the other type. I seemed to be one of the few in the middle. But halfway through my career I realized financially retirement wise it was better bang for the buck to move up the career ladder than to try and save my way to a comfortable lifestyle.

So true, the area of your message I've bolded above.
DH was a teacher for 30 years, and while he made about 1/3 less than I all our married years, he has a handsome COLA'd pension, plus he was able to save his 'sick days' and transfer them to payment for interim health insurance costs until Medicare (and beyond). Not so shabby IMO.

 

[Indigo Mule]

To clarify a couple of the points, In California, there is both an employer contribution of 1.45% and an employee deduction for Medicare. The original document with the signatures of those employees who did not opt into Medicare is kept by the position control manager, and there is a note on their mandatory deductions payroll screens (they come up each month during payroll edits as exceptions). I don't know if there are also individual documents scanned into each one's personnel file. (Our district was following legal requirements at the time. There was no special consideration being exercised.)

 

[Co2012]

It really does not seem right that you can get access to someone's else's personnel file like this; she would have to write to ask permission and set up an appointment but you can just get into it? Aren't there privacy safeguards no matter how good your intentions are?

You are absolutely right! After I thought about it, I had decided against it in regard to both of us. Although the person I was going to ask to check my file is a dear friend, I do not want her knowing too much of my personal information (but if she wants to know, she already does).

Anyone working in my position has a confidentially clause and if you were to divulge information from someone's file, you could be in serious trouble. maybe even fired. So this is something I never did even though I had been approached many times by friends asking me to do so. Especially when I was retiring, as some saw it as their last opportunity to get information. One friend still cannot forgive me because I would not give her the phone number and address of her son's girlfriend. They had a child together and girlfriend had moved and had not given them information on where they were. I think she blames me because her son has no contact with his son.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I just hopped back on board after some time being away from posting. However, I have been on the website frequently just to see what's going on. I can't get over the binds some people get themselves into, whether their own fault or someone else's. I feel for all that are in this bind as I couldn't stand to go through those type situations. The school system is familiar to me only because I have so many friends that were teachers. Also, my brother was in the school system in Ohio and he is now retired. As far as I know, the school system there is still exempt from Social Security as the state has their own retirement fund. When my brother first started back in the late 60's, he had to work in the summers just to make ends meet. Someone told him back then about Social Security, the credits required, etc. Later in his career, he established a little side business and as an independent contractor, continued to pay into Social Security. When he turned 65 and went onto the Ohio state teachers retirement system, he was also able to get Social Security. Naturally, it was a reduced sum because of the amount he had contributed, but at least he's getting something. He's thankful to the person that clued him in years ago when he first started working.

 

[Mulligan]

I just hopped back on board after some time being away from posting. However, I have been on the website frequently just to see what's going on. I can't get over the binds some people get themselves into, whether their own fault or someone else's. I feel for all that are in this bind as I couldn't stand to go through those type situations. The school system is familiar to me only because I have so many friends that were teachers. Also, my brother was in the school system in Ohio and he is now retired. As far as I know, the school system there is still exempt from Social Security as the state has their own retirement fund. When my brother first started back in the late 60's, he had to work in the summers just to make ends meet. Someone told him back then about Social Security, the credits required, etc. Later in his career, he established a little side business and as an independent contractor, continued to pay into Social Security. When he turned 65 and went onto the Ohio state teachers retirement system, he was also able to get Social Security. Naturally, it was a reduced sum because of the amount he had contributed, but at least he's getting something. He's thankful to the person that clued him in years ago when he first started working.

And the longer the SS substantial years are the less they penalize you come time to draw. Back "in the good old days" for a period of time a teacher could draw unemployment during the summer. That was a sweet deal until the government put an end to that.

 

[aja8888]

And the longer the SS substantial years are the less they penalize you come time to draw. Back "in the good old days" for a period of time a teacher could draw unemployment during the summer. That was a sweet deal until the government put an end to that.

Did teachers back then pay into the state and federal unemployment insurance funds? If they didn't, I don't see how they could have been eligible.

 

[Mulligan]

Did teachers back then pay into the state and federal unemployment insurance funds? If they didn't, I don't see how they could have been eligible.

I'm just guessing as this was told to me by the teachers who used to draw it back in the day which I assume was the 60s and 70s. I think the district would have paid into the funds, not the teachers themselves. It might have been a state specific occurrence, and not nationwide.

 

[aja8888]

I'm just guessing as this was told to me by the teachers who used to draw it back in the day which I assume was the 60s and 70s. I think the district would have paid into the funds, not the teachers themselves. It might have been a state specific occurrence, and not nationwide.

Yes, I believe someone would have had to pay since it's an insurance fund.

 

[youbet]

I'm just guessing as this was told to me by the teachers who used to draw it back in the day which I assume was the 60s and 70s. I think the district would have paid into the funds, not the teachers themselves. It might have been a state specific occurrence, and not nationwide.

School districts pay UI premiums because they do lay off people from their jobs from time to time. A RIF'd janitor, administrator or teacher, etc., can collect UI while they are looking for a new job.

I don't know if teachers, with a contract to return in the fall, ever collected UI for the summer in Illinois. I don't go back to the dark ages (close though......). I can tell you from 1970 on they did not.

 

[youbet]

Yes, I believe someone would have had to pay since it's an insurance fund.

Mulligan's point was that it is the employer, not the employee as you said, that pays the UI premium.

 

[aja8888]

At some point along the way we got FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) which was paid by employees and employers (My Sub S Corp & employees paid in for years). This was in addition to the state's programs.