Like so many companies across the country, my employer has decided to cap their contribution to the healthcare plans of early retirees. Actually, they announced the cap more than five years ago, however, healthcare premiums are just now getting to the point that they are approaching the cap. I ran into an article recently that said healthcare inflation is running at 8%. So I decided to run some numbers on what I could expect my healthcare premiums to be over the next 10 years before I am eligible for Medicare.
The results were eye-opening.
Following is a chart that projects the monthly cost of my healthcare premium along with my share of the cost based on a quote I got from my HR Manager:
Covered My
Total By Share
Year Premium MegaCorp of Cost
2007 440.06 343.25 96.81
2008 475.26 343.25 132.01
2009 513.29 343.25 170.04
2010 554.35 343.25 211.10
2011 598.70 343.25 255.45
2012 646.59 343.25 303.34
2013 698.32 343.25 355.07
2014 754.19 343.25 410.94
2015 814.52 343.25 471.27
2016 879.68 343.25 536.43
2017 950.06 343.25 606.81
As you can see, the effect of having a cap is to transfer a greater and greater portion of the cost of the premium onto the insured. And this is only for individual coverage!! (The HR Manager answered my question via email and did not give me what I asked for.) My guess is that a family plan will be about twice this!!
Have many of you guys taken this into consideration in your projections?? Since I have decided to get a part-time job after I ER, I think I will be okay. But if you haven't planned for this, it could really be a bite in the you know what!
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