Keeping Workplace Extended Health Insurance or Not?

[VanWinkle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Buried in your first line is the fact that your Megacorp did a RIF...why is this happening and were big numbers involved? This is usually a sign that something is going on behind the scenes. Based on this I'd probably flip over to your spouse's plan and just see how things play out. As of now there is no serious discussion about putting pre-existing conditions into play. In fact when it was talked about after the election, the idea was if you were completely uninsured you wouldn't be able to just buy a policy without underwriting but if you maintained ACA type coverage you would be protected and could still switch insurance companies. At this point and under current rules one of your goals could be to stash away after tax money and tune up your expenses so that if your DW should get a RIF or want to retire you can control your taxable income and qualify for a subsidy. At your age even coming in a few dollars under the cap will reap big benefits.

That last paragraph is a great response!! You have some time to prepare for what will happen in the future. Use the time to try to be able to control taxable income for possible subsidies in the future if you have to come off of your wife's plan.

[Spock]

Depends on your income. I got laid off from Megacorp effective 6 weeks after turning 55. While I qualified for the retiree medical, the cheapest plan was $1520 a month with 13K deductibles.
Premiums alone were close to 2x my mortgage. Assuming no rate increases, I would be paying 182K between then and medicare just on premiums without actually using any medical care!
I'm living off my after tax savings and subsidized ACA.
Got a letter last month from the health plan that since they spent less than 80% of their premiums on heath care, I'll be getting a rebate applied to my future premiums... it'll take me almost 4 years to consume the rebate at current premium prices.