Quote:
Originally Posted by kathyspear
Just to clarify the above: In our case my husband's employer pays most of his premium but none of mine. If he is still working when he turns 65 I assume they will make him sign up for Medicare Part B and make his work coverage supplemental. But since they don't pay any of my premium they didn't care if I signed up for Medicare or stuck with their plan when I hit 65, so I stuck with what I had. Fingers crossed he keeps that job for a long time!
k.
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The law requires that employer insurance
not medicare be primary when still actively working full time; regardless of your eligible age for medicare. That includes spouses which is why they did not and could not make you elect Medicare as your primary insurance. Once your husband retirees you will most likely need to elect Medicare as your primary insurance. In these situations, Medicare will not penalize you for signing up after the eligible age of 65 since employer insurance is considered primary.
Many employer health insurance plans are very comprehensive and can be free or very inexpensive to the employee. This has nothing to do with the effectiveness of a federal insurance like Medicare nor should it be compared to Medicare.
Since a dollar is a dollar to every employer, no matter how you cut it, salaries and benefits = what you get as an employee.