Retiring before medicare age in the usa, what did/will you do?

[JoseSantiago]

Hi friends,

For those who retired or will retire prior to medicare age what is your plan for medical care in retirement?

I am looking to retire at 46 or 51 the latest and looking at options. Healthy w no medications no history etc. Not too worried about day to day illness more the catostrophic things.

I also have the option of free heath care if I move to Italy, but that question I'll save for another time.

Thanks as always to anyone who replies.

 

[pb4uski]

ACA health insurance. Check out healthsherpa.com Since you're healthy you'll want a bronze plan.

 

[homestead]

From age 55 - 65 I bought health insurance directly from the providers except for one year at age 64 I went on the ACA. I generally bought HSA bronze plans with a high deductible.
The last two months just prior to Medicare my premiums were up to about $650/mo.
The previous year when I was on the ACA premiums were about $150/mo.

 

[bluelight]

I retired at 62 in March 2019. Took COBRA for 18 months. Started on my own insurance on my states healthcare exchange on Oct 1st. I have a few health issues which is partially why I stayed employed as long as I did. Was initially going to retire at age 60. If you are healthy you could get away with a bronze plan or a catastrophic coverage plan for quite reasonable cost.

 

[Bamaman]

I retired at 58, and the company gave me the option to purchase insurance at their cost until age 65. Fortunately my Retiree Health Insurance Account had enough $ to cover me until 1 month prior to my birthday. Current early retirees are no longer given this option, as the company has essentially divorced all retirees from their balance sheet.

Most seem to go for the ACA. It's so expensive on deductibles and copays, and many cannot afford it--and cannot afford to be without it.

And as been in the past, the truly poor continue to go without insurance--in spite of the government subsidies that would pay part of the ACA policies. And the emergency rooms at night are still often being used as an unpaid clinic.

 

[N02L84ER]

I retired at 52 from a contract/consulting position. The first year I continued my private insurance with the company I had been using for the previous 5 years. The next year I signed up for a bronze ACA plan and have used them for the past 7 years. I am healthy and ignoring my annual wellness exams, have only seen a doctor once for a kidney infection in that time so I have not been overly worried about the huge deductibles.

 

[RunningBum]

I retired at 49. My choices at the time were some kind of retiree medical from megacorp, a group plan thru IEEE (engineering society) and private health insurance. The first two were very expensive. Since my health was good the private HI policy was very reasonable.

When ACA started, I think my old plan went away, so I went with that. Unsubsidized premiums were a lot higher IIRC, but I think I qualified for subsidies in all but two years. Hoping ACA or something similar stays around to get me to medicare.

 

[Dtail]

Went with heavily subsidized ACA plan, but you will need to manage your income (MAGI) to be able to receive the large tax subsidies.

 

[MRG]

Stayed with COBRA till ACA was available. We're grateful for it as I wouldn't have been able to insure large parts of me. Only 18 months till Medicare.

 

[RetireBy90]

I was fortunate to have retired from Army, been on Tricare for last 2 years. Works good for me.

 

[JoseSantiago]

Thanks everyone!

 

[jollystomper]

Retired at 60, subsidized Cobra for 18 months, now purchasing Megacorp retiree insurance until medicare (it is cheaper than ACA with lower deductible limits and greater provider flexibility).

 

[2017ish]

Retired at 56/57. Made the mistake of doing COBRA for first 18(?) months, then went with non-ACA-compliant Farm Bureau plans.

If you are healthy and have access to them, they are well worth a look--far cheaper than ACA, and good for those who are ensuring against the health risk of getting hit by a truck, as opposed to prepaying for normal doctor visits and prescriptions.

 

[RobbieB]

Cobra until it ended then over twice that amount for the bronze plan. No subsidy.

 

[iloveyoga]

Asking for a friend....is anyone making back up plans for their ACA coverage? Any resources you can recommend? Thank you.

 

[scrabbler1]

I was on COBRA for the last 17 months I was working because I had reduced my weekly hours worked became ineligible for group health coverage. That left 1 month on COBRA after I stopped working in late 2008. I was on an individual plan from 2009-2013 but after its rate jumped 50% in the first 2 years, I dumped it for a cheaper, bare-bones plan from mid-2011 through the end of 2013. The ACA had already been passed, so all I had to was hang in there until the exchange's plans began in 2014. Good thing because I had some health issues in 2015 so having a broader plan again (a Silver plan) kept my OOP expenses down.


I have had ACA premium subsidies some years but not all years. They were small until 2020 when I made a big change to my portfolio to keep the income down and get back on the subsidy train in a big way.

 

[WyomingLife]

Asking for a friend....is anyone making back up plans for their ACA coverage? Any resources you can recommend? Thank you.

+1

On Nov 10, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the ACA, with a decision expected sometime in the first half of 2021. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandto...rt-could-rule-on-the-affordable-care-act.aspx

If the Court strikes down the ACA -- and here I'm speculating -- such a decision presumably would not take effect until 2022 (or the open season in late 2021)

I find it hard to believe that the next Congress (regardless of which party controls it) and/or the next President would allow the ACA to lapse with no replacement, but stranger things have happened, I suppose

Indeed, my speculation is that we are gradually moving towards something akin to universal HC; but that will take time to implement

I'm continuing to w*rk largely to maintain employer-provided HI; I used the ACA about a decade ago, however, and it was wonderful

If HI was *solved* for me today, I would likely retire on Monday ... oh well

 

[iloveyoga]

+1

On Nov 10, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the ACA, with a decision expected sometime in the first half of 2021. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandto...rt-could-rule-on-the-affordable-care-act.aspx

If the Court strikes down the ACA -- and here I'm speculating -- such a decision presumably would not take effect until 2022 (or the open season in late 2021)

I find it hard to believe that the next Congress (regardless of which party controls it) and/or the next President would allow the ACA to lapse with no replacement, but stranger things have happened, I suppose

Indeed, my speculation is that we are gradually moving towards something akin to universal HC; but that will take time to implement

I'm continuing to w*rk largely to maintain employer-provided HI; I used the ACA about a decade ago, however, and it was wonderful

If HI was *solved* for me today, I would likely retire on Monday ... oh well

Thank you so much. I know several people who don't qualify for Medicaid but don't have the type of jobs that provide insurance or they can't quite afford the premiums. But they are working.

 

[CRLLS]

Our's was quite the mix. We had Cobra until that ran out. We had a short term policy for a couple of months until we had private insurance (before ACA). Dear wife went back to work and we were on her policy for a few years until she decided to finally retire. The next year, the company eliminated our policy and we had to choose another. Next year the company again eliminated our policy so we finally changed companies. That new company went belly up mid year and we had to choose yet another company/plan. We went on Medicare and after a couple of years, we changed companies/plans yet again. This year, I think we are finally on our "forever insurance". I am glad we are over that period. We do review the Part D every year. For more than a handful of years, I felt like we were in constant evaluation of insurance companies and plans. It was exhausting......

 

[Sue J]

When DH first retired in 2010 we went with his retiree health plan. Reasonable cost and decent enough coverage with his retiree benefit health care allowance. Within a few years the cost tripled and they stopped the allowance for spouses.

When ACA started in 2014 it was the obvious choice for us. We are in the income range that qualified for substantial subsidies and our area had plenty of plan choices. We stayed with ACA until we both started Medicare this year.

We always chose Bronze plans except for one year with a Silver. The ACA worked well for us, even though I had two years where I met my deductible ($6000-$6650) due to major surgeries. The retiree plan prices for the just the spouse were in the range of $1300/mo while our ACA cost were under $100 for both of us.

 

[KrisQuit]

I am working until 55 to qualify for megacorp retiree health insurance. It is expensive, but will allow us to stay on essentially the same plan, keep our doctors, etc. I would like to believe that ACA will stay in place, but it is not looking promising lately. We’ve set aside the money to pay for insurance and will additionally have good megacorp medicare companion products when at that age.

It is an expensive proposition, but one less thing to worry about for retirement — and we can afford it.

 

[Splash]

OP,

We retired 3.5 years ago at 55 and have been using ACA coverage each year with subsidies. I qualified for Mega Corp retiree medical but it was very expensive. We evaluated COBRA but for us it was more expensive than ACA.

Health insurance options/costs are very individualized. My advice is to look into what your options and cost estimates will be well in advance of retirement so you can plan accordingly. Qualifying for ACA subsidies can save some people significant money. It's never too soon to look into how these are calculated and what, if anything, you can do to get yourself in a position to qualify.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Retired in 2006 at 48. 18 months COBRA, then an individual policy for a few years until ACA started up. Never qualified for a subsidy.

 

[2017ish]

Retired at 56/57. Made the mistake of doing COBRA for first 18(?) months, then went with non-ACA-compliant Farm Bureau plans.

If you are healthy and have access to them, they are well worth a look--far cheaper than ACA, and good for those who are ensuring against the health risk of getting hit by a truck, as opposed to prepaying for normal doctor visits and prescriptions.

Forgot to say, DW pays about 220 a month for an HSA eligible plan, and mine is about 280 a month for a high deductible plan. (DW, who was a doc, didn't like the preexisting exclusions I faced with HSA eligible plan, and I deferred to her.)

Oh, plus $30 annually for a farm bureau membership.

As opposed to over 1200 monthly for an effectively high deductible family aca plan on Nashville area with no subsidy ....

 

[rodi]

As others mentioned - Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows anyone to purchase health insurance... Depending on your taxable income (modified adjusted gross income) you may qualify for subsidies. I retired at age 52 with 2 middle schoolers and a pre-medicare husband. Hubster has since gone on medicare, but the kids and I are still on ACA insurance.

As for Italy - are you a citizen of Italy. You should be good if you are... If not, you'll need to purchase private insurance to cover anything other than emergency medical care. My husband and sons are dual citizens so we've toyed with the idea of spending extended time there... Since I'm not a citizen (need to do the spouse paperwork - which is onerous and takes several years) I would need to pay for private insurance, even though I'd be allowed to move there with my citizen husband.