Where do you get your health insurance?

[Brian]

For young retirees, where do you get your health insurance?

I'll have access from my current employer thru COBRA for about $18,000/year for family. I'm under the impression that COBRA is short term only. So if I need to eventually get insurance thru another means, I may as well start looking now. Due to the annual cost, I should be looking at options either way.

I assume my professional organizations will be the first to review. I'm wondering if groups like AARP have good options.

I'll be 53, so I have several years of insurance needs.

 

[SheitlQueen]

ACA, if you can get your MAGI into the proper range.

 

[Bir48die]

Just came off Cobra. My BC/BS decided to stop offering individual policies in the Portland Metro area. Went on Kaiser for two months at $679/mth (healthy 62 year old). In December got a notice it's now $844/mth. Then I get confirmation of that yesterday and found out deductible went from $3,000 to $3,500 without notice.

I'm telling you, this has been the only downside of retiring early. No I cannot get MAGI down because Deferred Comp and wife's pension put me over the limit.

 

[jim584672]

https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/

 

[erkevin]

I just came off COBRA. I am now on the AZ State Retirement's Insurance provided by United Health Care. Bronze plan incl dental for $670/mo

 

[Animorph]

Certainly check healthcare.gov for an ACA plan. You can also check directly with the insurance companies, which sometimes offer ACA-compliant plans directly that they don't offer at healthcare.gov. I've done the latter most of the time, but this year healthcare.gov was my only choice.

Be aware that if you look at the costs, often enough the high deductible plans have maximum costs (premium + out of pocket) that are fairly close to the more expensive low-deductible plans. But you get to keep the deductible amount until it is used, or save it if not used.

An HSA, which operates as sort of an IRA/Roth IRA might also be beneficial, with a deduction for contributions and tax-free growth. I use it as a retirement account rather than to pay immediate health costs.

 

[Rianne]

+1 We have high deductible, low premium, HSA plan. We will save in 2018 even with a major illness, much more than our silver plan 2017 and I got really sick in Nov. 2017 with 3 ER visits. Twisted small intestine, oh gosh, what a nightmare.

 

[scrabbler1]

https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/

As a fellow New Yorker, same here. I had actually used up nearly all of my COBRA while I was still working because I had made myself ineligible for my employer's group health plan after I reduced my weekly hours worked to a level below their minimum to remain in their plan.

I kept working for 17 more months at 12 hours per week back in 2007-08, using all but 1 of those 18 months I could remain in COBRA. I knew when I made this switch in mid-2007 that it was very likely that I would be able to retire by the end of 2008.

I made a pitch to be put back on their group health plan or extend COBRA beyond 18 months, offering to pay 100% of the group health premium (equivalent to COBRA), but to my surprise they balked. I made it clear to them during my exit interview that this was part of the reason I left. A small part, actually, because it was mainly the dang commute.

In 2008, before I left the company, I had already lined up an individual plan starting in 2009 which fit into my budget. What I didn't count on was its rates rising nearly 50% in the next 2 years, straining my budget. Thankfully, the ACA had been passed in that time with the exchanges just around the corner. I switched to a bare-bones hospital-only plan for a few years to hold me over until 1/1/2014.

I have changed insurance companies once since 2014 (in 2016), and have one I am satisfied with. Premiums have begun rising a lot again, but I am still paying a little less than I paid in 2010. The ACA subsidies help a little, but I went over the MAGI cliff in 2017 so I lost the subsidy (about $470).

 

[joeea]

For young retirees, where do you get your health insurance?

The healthcare.gov marketplace.

In another 2 years, I'll be on Medicare. My wife will be on Medicare in 3.

I'll have access from my current employer thru COBRA for about $18,000/year for family. I'm under the impression that COBRA is short term only. So if I need to eventually get insurance thru another means, I may as well start looking now. Due to the annual cost, I should be looking at options either way.

Yes. COBRA is for 18 months at most.

When I retired we used COBRA until the end of the calendar year. I paid 102% of the total cost of the plan (employee portion plus employer's portion). The ACA plan we have now is much less expensive and has a far lower deductible for the same coverage.

You can get an ACA plan either during the open enrollment period, or when you separate from your workplace. Before you start COBRA, you should consider the alternatives - they may save you some money.

Whatever you do, don't roll the dice and go without insurance. A few months ago, I learned that I have cancer. For the past few months, I've been getting weekly cancer infusion treatments. Just the infusions alone cost over $21,000 per week, not to mention all the other blood tests, bone marrow tests, and CT scans.