Non-Medicare Retirement Medical Insurance - Giant Rip-off? Depends on the Provider.

For those of us who were fortunate enough to have medical insurance coverage under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act), so many of us have found it very beneficial.

Originally, my coverage as a retirement benefit was to be provided ‘free of charge’ when I retired from a company at 51 years of age with 31 years of service.   Yes, I had to work thru college to pay the tuition!
The company was in sound financial shape, but was beginning a merger with a company that I did not think was financially sound.  The company was relatively new, around 5 years and appeared to be growing exponentially.  I have always been one to review companies looking at the past 5 years before investing in their stock.  This company had no history as such.  I decided to relocate to another job for the next ten years.

I made a decision to leave, take a cash value of my retirement fund and roll it into an IRA.  The 401k was performing well, including the current company stock, as I was invested in about 60%.   As the merger neared, I started moving from stock to other investments.  Since the stock was still climbing, as I finalized retirement, I left about 20% in the stock. 

After the merger, I also noticed that the board and the new CEO was dumping as much stock as allowed. It became a daily stock watch to see what was happening.  I moved all but about $15,000 out of the stock.  When I reached $10,000, I dumped the remaining stock.

That was the beginning of a long fight of the CEO and upper management being charged with fraud.  The merged stock went from a high $59.00 to about  $.50.  It even stopped trading.

My ‘at no cost’ insurance was now about $100.00 a month.   Over the years, it gradually climbed to $591.00 a month.   I tended to have very good insurance coverage, even at high prices.

Last year, the merged company merged again with another company after the insurance premium had gone down a bit.   I still had very good coverage.  This year the new company changed the coverage from Health Partners Open Access to MEDICA, which did not reduce the cost from last year, but reduced coverage to 80%.  Luckily, I only had to keep them for 6 months.  I would never voluntarily choose that company for insurance.  Those six months had prescriptions filled without the correct prescriber listed and my card used to pay for the medications was compromised on their site. Credit card was cancelled and reissued.
Also this year, I had to enroll in Medicare, and of course, MEDICA is one of the companies bombarding my mailbox with junk mail.  They even had the nerve to start calling me on my cell phone, which I never give to any business.  I had to threaten filing a complaint with the Do Not Call office to get them to stop.

I have always supported COBRA, because it usually provides reasonable coverage to people who leave a job, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

I finally retired in 2009 from the company that I accepted employment with.  I chose to continue with my former employer’s insurance, because it offered better coverage and I preferred the insurance provider.
This company also merged with another company, which reduced their insurance coverage to employees.
I was offered ‘retirement’ insurance from this company, but declined. Basically the price and coverage could best be described as ‘a joke’!

Advice to all young people (late 20 somethings or 30 somethings who may read this post….

• Plan on how you would like to live. If you like the 'bling' you must have the skills and education to get the salary to support that life style.
• It is not necessary to have the latest gadget or latest fad.
• Buy good quality merchandise, shoes, and clothing.
• Save at least 10% of your earnings; half in tax deferred and half in after tax.  Tax deferred means you do not pay tax on that money now and cannot use it until you are at least 59 1/2 without tax and a tax penalty!
• Stop trying to keep up with the Kardashians, they are doing what they can to earn a living.   Why try to impress people who have no real meaning to you?
• Impress yourself by knowing that come hardship, you will have a nest egg
• Buy medical insurance, you could go broke without it!
• Pay attention to what Suze Orman says!

© 2012 retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com

Things I didn’t know about retirement……….

Instead of a food post, today I am writing about retirement as I see it.

I think I was always planning for retirement financially, but had no serious thoughts about what I would be doing after I retired.

The business models used by the company where I spent most of my employment years were 10-year, 5-year and 1-year plans. 

Well, I never quite had a 10-year plan until I left that company during a merger. At that point in time, I decided that I would plan on working at least 10 more years with the possibility of retiring anytime after that.  That including continued saving a percentage of my earnings.

My 5-year plans weren’t detailed, they were simply to save x amount of dollars per year.  When I knew I would be leaving the last company, I went into immediate mode, forecasting expenses and income and paying off anything that wasn’t paid for.

I looked at things I could easily eliminate.  Things like satellite TV or cable, indiscriminate spending could be reduced or cut completely.  Things that can be eliminated depends on which items are needed. Housing and utility costs usually do not go down, instead actually increase, because you are home more.

One of the things I did not plan for was time.  Everyone thinks they will have lots of time after retiring to do all the things that they could not do while employed. First, a lot has to do with ones health. As we age, the joints may ache, the over-all health may go downhill. Do to diet restrictions or newly identified food allergies, preparing meals may take more time.

So although you may think you have saved enough to live comfortably, you may need to pay someone else to do your normal cleaning and cooking. There can also be high medical bills or medical insurance premiums.

Something to not expect in the future is getting an easy disability check from the government. While you may be trying to keep up with the  Kardashians today, think about just who you are trying to impress. When you are old and in need of assistance, those you were intending to impress will have their own problems!  It was keeping up with the ‘Joneses’ during my work life.  I never felt that I had to impress anyone, so things I did or bought were because I liked it.  Guess that came from growing up poor.

Before retiring, I had weekly cleaning schedules. I vacuumed and dusted every weekend.   Now, I have no cleaning schedules other than changing the bed linen and doing laundry!  It’s a clean as necessary strategy.  Of course, the kitchen and bath room have  to be kept clean daily or that could get out of hand.

Previously, I planned out meals as to not cook more than twice a week. Now, I cook when I want to try out a new recipe or there is nothing in the fridge. At least I have an advantage since I do not really like most meats.  But, I can chow down on some pork ribs occasionally!  I can throw a bag of veggies in the microwave, open a can of black beans or quickly cook some rice and I have a meal!  Due to food allergies, it is not as easy to just drop by the fast food place and grab lunch or dinner.

My last job was so stressful, that I actually retired about two years before I had planned.  My two-year plan became immediate! That is another reason for planning for retirement….if the crap gets too bad, have a plan, just in case!    I developed insomnia during the last year there, would be awake until about 2 or 3 in the morning.  I had to get up at 5:30 AM.  Three years later, I am still a night owl, I cannot get to sleep before 2 or 3 AM.   But, I also do not have to get up at 5:30 AM!  Even if I am in bed by 1 AM, I am still awake.

I try to eat healthy foods, but I do like chocolate, cocoa to be more precise. I also have noticed that I can gain 5 pounds very quick, so I have my chocolate, but less frequently. I have also learned how to bake low-carb too.

I spent a lot of time online on a foodie site or Facebook, during  about the first eighteen months of retirement.  I even joined a few support groups.  My observation for some of the groups/sites; they are more like the office I left when I retired.

Now back to eliminating things from the budget…. technology changes require one to keep up with certain trends. I was probably the last one to get a smart phone, but DTV (I will be nice) pxxxxd me off, so I cancelled them after eleven years!  I only watch local channels anyway!

My plans also include penning a gluten-free cookbook.  After seeing so many gluten free cookbooks with some of the same recipes, I decided instead to do only charitable type smaller cookbooks (for the Ipad) with the monies going to chosen non-profit organizations.  This will be my activity for a few months with the intention of getting two books out.

I am by no means wealthy, what comes in, goes out, either in medical expenses or taxes.

At least, I can say I am retired with no regrets!

A Few Retirement Woes which leads to Health Insurance Woes

During the last few weeks of December, most companies send out the ‘usual’ information about pension, health care and 401K plans.

Recently, I received my copy of the Summary Annual Reports from both prior employers. I was a bit surprised (maybe not) that the three plans from one company are 401K savings Plan, Trusted Employee Benefit Plan and Non-Trusted Employee Benefit Plan. Wouldn’t you feel a bit uneasy if you knew you were in a ‘Non-Trusted Plan’?

Instead of saying that the Health Care Plan is not funded, a new ambiguous term Non-Trusted Employee Benefit Plan is now being used. It also is referred to as the Employee Welfare Plan.

This leads me to believe that we may expect to be jettisoned from previous employer plans by way of excessive premium increases as a means to force enrollment in any ‘public option’ plan. My retirement benefit of cost-free health insurance is now $5500.00 per year. The 2010 amount is a 73% increase from last year. Employers made promises that were in writing, yet congress allowed those promised benefits to be removed saying they were not pension benefits. That fact in itself is one of the reasons there are so many people without health insurance.

I do not know enough about the new Health Care Plan to offer an opinion. What I do know is that large corporations are taking advantage of employees by requiring the employees to pay up to 75% of their health insurance premiums. Health insurance has always been a benefit of the offer of employment.

If Corporations do not intend that health insurance benefits be a part of the ‘package’, why mention it at all. Just pay the employee a full salary and the employee can choose their insurance coverage elsewhere.

Just had to get that off my chest before I could share my
Christmas Cookies!