Hi, I just turned 60 and will retire the end of 2017

[MichaelB]

Generally true, in the OPs state and some others there are restriction on age rating that benefit seniors not yet eligible for medicare.

Not disagreeing with you, and agreeing that a community based rating might influence the choice of residence. The policy may be inadequate in other ways, such as network or geographic coverage. We lived in NY and had the guaranteed individual coverage that existed prior to the ACA. It was inadequate in every way.

Just my personal opinion, but I think access to broad, comprehensive coverage is more important. It will be expensive, though. IMHO, it is a financial risk to plan early retirement relying on a health care subsidy.

 

[walkinwood]

It is relatively easy to figure out your premiums - just go to your state web site. Look at how much you've spent on medical care the past few years and that should give you a pretty good idea of what your total costs will be. The max Out-of-pocket will give you your total liability per year.

You have to look at the total cost of living - state & local tax, property tax, sales tax, & cost of health insurance are the big ones - when comparing costs between states. There are web sites like city-data.com which will help you.

But I think a social network & your plans for your time are just as important as finances in retired life. Pay attention to that too.

 

[FireCat]

Just wanted to jump in on the healthcare topic. My wife and I are lucky enough to have retired 3 years ago at 53 with a well funded pension. The only negative being we aren’t eligible for subsidies so buying even the lowest rated plans with high deductibles would cost over $1100/mo in premiums alone. Our solution has been to purchase an expat type plan with very good coverage in the US and abroad that has a $1000 deductible. Our premiums are $3000 annually for the both of us. To qualify you must be outside the USA for 180 days or more each year. Also they have limitations on pre existing conditions a deal breaker for some, so obviously this plan won’t work for all, but for us it has worked very well. We plan to ride this for as long as we can hopefully till we reach Medicare age.

 

[Lagniappe]

Just wanted to jump in on the healthcare topic. My wife and I are lucky enough to have retired 3 years ago at 53 with a well funded pension. The only negative being we aren’t eligible for subsidies so buying even the lowest rated plans with high deductibles would cost over $1100/mo in premiums alone. Our solution has been to purchase an expat type plan with very good coverage in the US and abroad that has a $1000 deductible. Our premiums are $3000 annually for the both of us. To qualify you must be outside the USA for 180 days or more each year. Also they have limitations on pre existing conditions a deal breaker for some, so obviously this plan won’t work for all, but for us it has worked very well. We plan to ride this for as long as we can hopefully till we reach Medicare age.

This is interesting to me as I plan to be out of the US quite a bit. Can you provide any info on the company/ policy?

 

[Bir48die]

Cobra for 18 months $548 per month. Kaiser for Nov/Dec 2017 $679 per month with $3,000 deductible. Two months later for this year $844 per month with $3,500 deductible.

 

[FireCat]

This is interesting to me as I plan to be out of the US quite a bit. Can you provide any info on the company/ policy?

Sure thing, We have used other companies the previous two years we were retired and have switched to Azimuth Risk Solutions, 5218 S East St, Suite E-1, Indianapolis, IN 46227 USA

We switched due to our premiums going up significantly and found the sign up and application process for Azimuth to be much more professional and have high hopes that if we use our insurance that they will be a good company to work with. Our premiums were significantly lower for Azimuth than even our first year in the other plan we had which was with IMG. Let me know if this helps.

 

[Lagniappe]

Sure thing, We have used other companies the previous two years we were retired and have switched to Azimuth Risk Solutions, 5218 S East St, Suite E-1, Indianapolis, IN 46227 USA

We switched due to our premiums going up significantly and found the sign up and application process for Azimuth to be much more professional and have high hopes that if we use our insurance that they will be a good company to work with. Our premiums were significantly lower for Azimuth than even our first year in the other plan we had which was with IMG. Let me know if this helps.

Thanks for this info. I will definitely follow up on it. You say "IF we use our insurance" - so does that mean you ahven't filed a claim yet?

 

[omni550]

Thanks for this info. I will definitely follow up on it. You say "IF we use our insurance" - so does that mean you ahven't filed a claim yet?

Lagniappe,

You may wish to check Azimuth reviews -- some are pleased and some are quite unhappy.

omni

 

[FireCat]

Yes you are correct we have not had a claim. Regarding reviews I would definitely look at that but with IMG we had a claim that they paid on but it was a pain to go through the process. I can’t think of anytime working with insurance companies especially in the healthcare field that I’ve been happy with the process. For us it looks like a solid company with a huge amount of docs that accept the plan. The great thing beside the great coverage at a reasonable cost is you are covered both in the US as well as outside the country.