If you are retired & 54 - 59 yrs old, how much are you paying for health insurance?

[Helena]

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I retired at age 55. Thank God my former employer pays 100% of my health insurance. Otherwise I doubt I could have retired that early.

While I was working, the company reminded us over and over that our benefits were an important addition to our salary. When I was 20-something I didn't think much about it. But as I got older I understood and really appreciated my God-sent corporate pension and post-retirement insurance benefits [which also includes life insurance.]

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[DrRoy]

I have partial megacorp retirement medical. Our total expense last year was $14K. That was with some minor conditions, nothing major.

[Emerson11]

I'm 57, live in Michigan, and pay $662/mo for a Bronze BCBS HSA plan just for myself. My premium shot up 23% first year after Obamacare passed, and has gone up substantially every year since. The whole point of Obamacare is that those who eat right, exercise etc., pay for those who don't.

[2Muchfun]

$0 per month for HMO ACA plan for the two of us.

Retired 4 years ago at 55.

[Emerson11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Muchfun $0 per month for HMO ACA plan for the two of us. Retired 4 years ago at 55.

Wait, what?

[2Muchfun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emerson11 Wait, what?

We have only a $20K MAGI. This year, we opted for a high deductible HMO. We do put away ~$500 each month to pay for any out of pocket expenses.

[rmcelwee]

Slightly off topic but it may help the discussion. I went to healthsherpa.com and entered 30K for my income. It said insurance was $1533/month. I entered 45K and it said $1340 per month. $60K was 1196 per month. I don't understand The more I make the more I am subsidized?

[Omega]

This is so confusing! I don't understand how premiums can be so all over the place, Point Breeze and Dash Man for example.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega This is so confusing! I don't understand how premiums can be so all over the place, Point Breeze and Dash Man for example.

Many of the responses are not premiums, they are the share of premiums members are paying after subsidy has been applied.

[Sue J]

Our ACA plan costs (before subsidy) for two people (age 59 in 2014) have gone from $850/mo to $1220/mo for Bronze plans with MOOP in the range of $6000-$7000.

Our income is usually just under 250% FPL and our subsidy has ranged from $651 to an astounding $1212/mo. We choose lower cost bronze plans except for one year when there was silver option that we liked.

Twice we've picked Bronze HDHP with HSA plans and the HSA contribution lowers our MAGI, getting us a larger subsidy. All of our options, at any metal level, have very large deductibles and Max Out Of Pocket.

For 2018, out of seven insurers and over 30 plan choices the lowest deductible was a Gold HSA plan with a deductible and MOOP of $3500 each. Very expensive plan $2186/mo!

[PaddyMac]

We're both 57 and in 2018 our Bronze Plan with HSA in New Mexico jumped to $1087 a month. Self-employed, semi-retired (royalties still coming in).

We did not qualify for ACA subsidy in 2017 due to high income, but I'm going to try to fit our lower income in 2018 into the space as an estimate I ran said we could get $10K back in subsidies. So it might be worth it to stuff our 401k.

I expect it to jump a lot in 2019, but our (income from royalties) continues to drift down.

[Walt34]

I retired at 52, DW at 46. We are fortunate to have heavily subsidized HI (BCBS) from my former employer who pays 70% of the premium and we pay 30%, which comes to a hair over $700/month for the two of us. Since I'm now on Medicare it is secondary to Medicare and will be for DW when she hits 65. No deductibles, office visit copays are $10 for her, none for me and emergency room visits are zero if admitted and $50 if not admitted for her. Prescriptions are normally $5, occasionally $10.

Last year I had two surgeries for two different melanoma sites (both caught very early so no follow-up needed) and my OOP was $0.

All those midnight shifts are paying off big time.

[ikubak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyber888 I'm definitely retiring around 56-58. I have no company insurance, no military insurance .. so my only hope is ACA or whatever system will replace it. It's just DW and myself. She's currently covered under my insurance and we pay around $560/month (and it is subsidized by my work). We don't have kids. I know with ACA, an income of $18,000-$44,000? will receive subsidy. And if it is lower than $18,000, meaning if I don't withdraw that much from my retirement account, I fall within Medicaid ? Not sure. Is Medcaid dependent on income or assets? I know ACA depends on yearly income. I was just wondering how much you guys in this particular age bracket are paying for health insurance (husband and wife, without kids). Thanks!

56 and pay $0 for a bronze plan. Fortunately, DW and I are pretty healthy at this stage of life. DW has had two Dr visits this year, a periodic dermatology visit and eye dr checkup from a cataract surgery a year or two ago. We also get regular dental cleanings once a year. No drugs other self medicating with caffeine and alcohol and the occasional OTC drugs.

[ikubak]

I will also add that we keep our MAGI in the range that keeps a bronze plan fully subsidized. We have funds in taxed deferred accounts, Roth accounts and funds outside of retirement accounts. Our SS and pensions don’t start for about 5 years. So we mange our use of funds from the right accounts to keep our MAGI in the “free bronze plan” range.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega This is so confusing! I don't understand how premiums can be so all over the place, Point Breeze and Dash Man for example.

There can huge differences depending which state/county you are from plus the MAGI reported.
My brother and I pay a total of $300 monthly for a full silver plan with no deductible based on 24K MAGI in FLA.

[GTFan]

Yes, exactly. It all depends on where you live, the metal level you choose and how much income you report.

We pay $68/mo. for an Ambetter 250 ded/750 max OOP per person Silver plan. Only reason it's that cheap is because we have kept income below 150% FPL.

I'm glad Blue Cross is coming back to metro ATL next year because their network is much better but we have had no issues with Ambetter this year.

[hotwired]

We are semi retired, 52, and pay for our own. The premium is 18K per year with 13K deductible per person. BUT, we got lucky this year ... O'Bama care pays all but $3 per month. It's still "virtually nonexistent insurance" but it covers wellness and we do have an HSA which we use as a retirement account. If our AGI goes a cent over 80K we have to pay the entire 18K subsidy back.

I can't believe some of the rates I'm hearing on this thread. We've NEVER paid less than $400 per month (family of 3. Myself, wife, both 52 and daughter 17,. 13K deductibles, no copays or limits otherwise. We basically pay 100% of our health care except our annual physical). We will be "expatriating" to at LEAST Florida ASAP for this reason and many others.

[MBSC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotwired We are semi retired, 52, and pay for our own. The premium is 18K per year with 13K deductible per person. BUT, we got lucky this year ... O'Bama care pays all but $3 per month.

You may want to review your policy again. An ACA-compliant family plan with a high MOOP must have an embedded individual MOOP that does not exceed $7,350 in 2018.

Quote:

Effective Jan 1, 2016, non-grandfathered health plans cannot allow any individual, including those with family coverage, to spend more than the individual out-of-pocket (OOP) maximum established under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Commonly referred to as an embedded individual OOP maximum, this rule could impact a family’s total health care expenses, especially if only one family member incurs high medical expenses. The 2018 PPACA OOP maximum amount is $7,350 for an individual. How it works * Once an individual with family coverage meets the individual OOP maximum, the plan must pay 100% of all covered expenses for that person, even if the family maximum has not been met. * Once the family OOP maximum is reached the plan must pay 100% of all covered expenses for every covered individual — regardless of whether each family member has reached the individual maximum. Source: https://www.cigna.com/health-care-re...stomer-impacts For 2018, the individual OOPM is $7,350, and the family OOPM is $14,700. Under the rules that took effect in 2016, no single member of a family can be required to pay more than $7,350 in out-of-pocket charges in 2018, regardless of whether the rest of the family has incurred any claims. This includes people enrolled in family HDHPs, and HHS has clarified that this does not conflict with HSA and HDHP requirements. Source: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs...st-one-person/

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotwired We are semi retired, 52, and pay for our own. The premium is 18K per year with 13K deductible per person. BUT, we got lucky this year ... O'Bama care pays all but $3 per month. It's still "virtually nonexistent insurance" but it covers wellness and we do have an HSA which we use as a retirement account. If our AGI goes a cent over 80K we have to pay the entire 18K subsidy back. I can't believe some of the rates I'm hearing on this thread. We've NEVER paid less than $400 per month (family of 3. Myself, wife, both 52 and daughter 17,. 13K deductibles, no copays or limits otherwise. We basically pay 100% of our health care except our annual physical). We will be "expatriating" to at LEAST Florida ASAP for this reason and many others.

That's the deal. Get yourself to FLA.

[hotwired]

A couple of you caught my error. The deductible I was referencing was our old plan from 3 years ago. Our deductible is 6500 per person with a $13,000 family deductible. I usually have a better handle on my numbers than that, sorry! All the other numbers are accurate.