What would you do?

[CardsFan]

I have a mega corp retiree medical plan. It is not heavily susidized, but better than ACA. About a month ago, got the annual notice for renewal, and the cost, to me, went up 35%.

Last Friday I got a notice to check the web page for my final update, and it says cost to me is $0 (versus $1243 for 2). Now, I know this is not correct. But maybe there is a change with two big chemical companies that are merging?

My first reaction was to call right away. After thinking a while, I guess i'll wait until the first bill comes for the January payment.

Just don't want to risk falling between the bed and the wall.

What would you do?

 

[broadway]

I would check again early next month to see if the mistake was fixed.

May have been a temporary glitch.

 

[Walt34]

I guess it depends on what you're going to do if the increase really is 35%. If you're going to pay the increase rather than go the ACA route I'd just wait and check again. But if you're thinking of going ACA, then you're going to want time to do your homework on that and in that case I'd call to find out what the increase really is.

 

[Car-Guy]

I think I'd call ASAP to be sure that I'm covered next year. (And get a confirmation in writing) If they made a mistake during the annual enrollment period, the sooner you call their attention to it, the more likely you are to get it fixed in your favor.

 

[LOL!]

I'd wait a week for all the others on the same plan to call though it will really take only one of them. YOu will get corrected info soon enough. If not, then make the call.

 

[CardsFan]

I got tired of waiting, and a little concerned that my plan had been cancelled, so I called yesterday.

When I explained the situation, the answer was basically "You have coverage, but that $0 payment is not correct. I need to send a notice to the the benefits team to update your numbers. I'll call you back on Monday."

MegaCorp has contracted this all out to Hewitt, and I cannot tell you how many issues I have had. I will admit that it is complicated by the fact that my former division was just accquired 6 years ago, the plan is an amalgam based on our prior plan, and there are probably less than a dozen retirees on this plan.

As an aside, I regularly attend a group luncheon with retirees. Some recent, some 15+ years ago. Due to the past mergers, spin-offs, etc., in a group of 15 retirees at one lunch, there were 6 or 7 different plans.

But I will give MegaCorp credit for one thing. They never forget to send me a bill!

 

[MichaelB]

Well, it's good to hear you will still have coverage.

 

[Philliefan33]

CardsFan, did you retire from Rohm & Haas?

 

[CardsFan]

CardsFan, did you retire from Rohm & Haas?

No. The big DD.

 

[foxfirev5]

Finally got my retiree enrollment. The premium went down. After close examination this was due to no further contributions to my HSA from my former employer.
All I can say is thank you for another year of coverage.

 

[CardsFan]

Finally got my retiree enrollment. The premium went down. After close examination this was due to no further contributions to my HSA from my former employer.
All I can say is thank you for another year of coverage.

This is pretty much my attitude. It is not great coverage, but it is better than anything I can get on the exchange, even if I contolled income. 3 1/2 years to medicare. Then it gets easier. Or at least more certain. Well, at least not at the discretion of megaCorp.