[Boomer]

The March issue of Kiplinger's Retirement Report has an article about dealing with health insurance if you do not have it from your former employer and you have not reached Medicare. This is not Kiplinger's Personal Finance which is the magazine that you can find anywhere. This one is available only by subscription I think. The articles are really short, but all of them are about retirement issues.

The article went into some specific situations but provided only two links which I thought I would share here for those who are looking into this.

http://www.healthinsuranceinfo.net/ I think this link is for finding coverage with the state if you cannot get it elsewhere. It may cover other availability. - not sure.

http://www.nahu.org/ This one is for finding a broker to search for a plan for you.

I don't know anything about either of these links other than they were in the Kiplinger's article and they are usually pretty good about looking into things.

I have friends who have to work until Medicare or at least until a spouse reaches Medicare because coverage has become so expensive and not always easy to access. I hate it that so many have to wish that their 65th birthday would hurry up just like they wished for the 21st.

DC, we have a problem. (I just wish I thought somebody knew how to fix it.)

[Boomer]

I bumped this for JohnM who asked a question in the "Affordable Health Care" thread about looking for health insurance. I hope this helps.

Boomer

[ConeyIsBabe]

Yes, it is a serious problem for early retirees - which has impacted my family. My daughter was eligible for retirement from her employer of 25 years so she took it (under age 50). And, she chose to leave the state of Florida to live with me in Oregon, therefore unable to continue with the Florida employer insurance. She contacted a local "insurance broker" who was unable to help her because she had a couple of prior health issues that caused insurers to deny her coverage.

As a last resort, the state of Oregon offers people in her situation special coverages from an "insurance pool"..... so the outcome was the insurance company who denied her coverage has accepted her within the "insurance pool" at a much higher rate, of course. What a mess ! Her monthly premiums are in the $300+ price range.

[Sidney Lanier]

Horrifying as it is to say, $300+/month for health insurance coverage for a single is not bad. (Something like gas for $2.50/gallon looking cheap....) Our son, with his own business, bought GROUP coverage through his chamber of commerce membership and he was paying $300+/month. Shocking, eh?

Not sure what the implication is of a spouse being on Medicare. By the time one reaches Medicare age (65), it's "every man [person] for himself [herself]." That is, best as I understand, there is no spousal situation in relation to Medicare, it's solely individual coverage for anyone age 65 or younger and disabled, and even the disabled have a two-year wait from the onset of disability to get Medicare coverage.

Talk about Catch-22....

[renielarson]

I feel so very blessed being a teacher in the state of Michigan. I will only have to pay $96.00 a month for health insurance until I qualify for Medicare.

[Village Kid 2]

It is expensive for most folks and health insurance just increased again for State of Florida retirees. Single coverage is $449.26 per month! Family coverage (even for only a spouse) is $$1,015.98 per month! Florida does give retirees a health subsidy of $5 for every year worked up to a max of 30 years which is $150/month. Still, the net for single coverage is $299.26 if one has worked 30 years. How are pensions to cover these increasing costs???

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Village Kid

It is expensive for most folks and health insurance just increased again for State of Florida retirees. Single coverage is $449.26 per month! Family coverage (even for only a spouse) is $$1,015.98 per month! Florida does give retirees a health subsidy of $5 for every year worked up to a max of 30 years which is $150/month. Still, the net for single coverage is $299.26 if one has worked 30 years. How are pensions to cover these increasing costs???

Village Kid,

Bingo!

Thank you.

You have hit one of the nails in our collective coffin right on the head.

I know that people who know me wonder why this topic just lights me up -- and not in a good way.

There are those who actually think that because they have coverage, they should not give the rest of it another thought. ::

We are both covered, for now, but our part continues to increase in cost. Yeah, that's an issue. But that is not even the biggest part of my issue.

I could cross-reference I suppose over to my other rants on the subject. I am just so sick of watching friends crawl toward Medicare, forced to stay too long at jobs that are killing them with stress. Then there are those who are cut loose too early by a major corporation that offers them no subsidy at all. One of my personal favorites in this is a major health insurer that did away with subsidizing retiree coverage. Yeah. That's what they did. And those state-retirement plans sure aren't what they used to be. And many small business owners are struggling under the weight that is becoming impossible to bear.

You know what...maybe it's all part of a master plan. Make the boomers work until they drop. It will thin the herd as they lead us to "Operation Ice Floes."

Whew! I have got to stop writing about this. It's just that I am not as limber as I used to be so I am having a really hard time sticking my head up my :edit:.

Boomer

[Russ_Boston]

When i retire early in a couple of years, I'll either have to pay around $280 per month copay (which will increase every year) or get my own. And who knows if my employer will continue with Retiree coverage. That is not federally quaranteed like the money portion is.

That is one reason that I've decided to go into another career (RN) and get coverage through that employment at a lower rate (hopefully).

[Sidney Lanier]

We have a friend who is 73 and certainly Medicare eligible who is still working full-time because he recognizes that if he leaves, he has nothing but Medicare which in his situation is nowhere near adequate in terms of the amount of bills. Work till you drop?! For those who want to and are able to, that's fine. For those who can not, or put more accurately, should not, it's a really tough situation, worsened with the realization that even Medicare is for 65-year-olds and older (unless disabled, as mentioned in an earlier post). The nightmare worsens....

[Village Kid 2]

Even when one has Medicare, it is not 100% coverage. One still needs a supplemental health policy to cover what Medicare doesn't so the cost to the individual is still there. Medicare just becomes the primary insurance. Will we all be forced to work to pay for health insurance, propery taxes, homeowners insurance, long term care insurance, etc? It seems the cost for protective care and taxes rises far more and faster than any cost of living increases from SS or pensions.

[Boomer]

OK. Here it is. I found it like I said I would to try to help answer the new questions that have appeared on the topic of affordable health insurance for early retirees.

And yes, I started it as one of my public service announcements, but right in the middle I took off and told you all how terrifying I find this entire issue. I have friends who are paying $800 to $1000 a month for plans that even have access and contributions through their former employers. To carry a spouse and/or a college kid on these plans is making many retirements impossible.

There is nothing I can see that is affecting the boomers' retirement plans more than this issue. Maybe TV's developer needs to start an insurance pool. But the actuarial tables on that one would not project much hope of profit.

Well, I just did it again. I lit right up on the topic. Sorry. Just ignore it and look for the information in the thread.

Boomer does not want to rant too often. Boomer just wants to have fun. But Boomer wants other boomers to be able to stop working and have fun with her so sometimes she just has to rant a bit. And Boomer does not think anybody has a solution. So this is not political. Not exactly.

Well, it's early in the day and I have already begun to refer to myself in third person. I think I had better get out of here.

I hope the info buried in this thread helps.

Boomer