IBM Corp. is requiring all US Medicare-eligible retirees to choose between 2 Medicare Advantage

[sinkingfeeling]

plans from United Healthcare. I'm not happy, but if I choose to not sign up, I lose a $1600 a year subsidy that can be used to reduce Part B and/or copays or dental insurance.

I was getting a $3000 a year HRA subsidy.

[Skittles]

1. that is fucked up

Medicare Advantage is a scam

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Signs of the times to come? My company is probably going to reduce their amounts they cover

for me, it's been going down in $ amounts (HRA). Wish you the best. My med. advantage plan has been okay, but I haven't really had to use it much, it does cover visits (all of the cost) and meds (not %100, but still good). Of course, if you deduct, and the amounts are still hefty in your total deductions, you can still write off. I haven't had to use it, being that my med. expenses haven't gone through the roof, thank goodness.

Best wishes to you!

[Raven123]

3. Can you get on traditional Medicare and buy a supplement + Part D?

[catrose]

4. IBM can do that?

United Healthcare was top on the list of companies who defraud the govt with their Medicare Advantage plans, but whatever.

[brooklynite]

5. I was specifically told NOT to sign up for Medicare Advantage...

When I turn 65, I sign up for Medicare A and B, my pension plan's (lifetime) health insurance becomes Medicare's secondary, and I get reimbursed for Medicare premiums at the end of the year.

[PortTack]

6. Those advantage plans aren't an advantage! If something looks to good to be true, it probably is!

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/11/11/1054281885/medicare-advantage-overcharges-exploding

Switching seniors to Medicare Advantage plans has cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more than keeping them in original Medicare, a cost that has exploded since 2018 and is likely to rise even higher, new research has found.

Richard Kronick, a former federal health policy researcher and a professor at the University of California-San Diego, says his analysis of newly released Medicare Advantage billing data estimates that Medicare overpaid the private health plans by more than $106 billion from 2010 through 2019 because of the way the private plans charge for sicker patients.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010816/pitfalls-medicare-advantage-plans.asp

Eventual out pocket expenses can be really high due to a cap on payment for certain health problems.
You cannot pick your doctors. You must use their network picks which is very limiting

[doc03]

7. When I retired the USWA offered a Medicare Advantage group plan that is subsidized

some by the Union. If I would change to a Medicare supplement, I would have to pay nearly twice as
much for insurance altogether because I would have to get a Supplement and pay for a Part D plan. If I leave the
Medicare Advantage Group and don't like it I can't get back on.

[LeftInTX]

15. I'm on a similar plan. It's not bad. It's a PPO.

It's through Texas Teacher's Retirement. They originally had plain old insurance, then they went with this in 2017. Everyone was upset at first, but it's not the same as other MA plans.

When I turned 65, I was ready to get that Medicare Supplement, then I started looking into Part D. I connected with the same group as I did in 2017 and they said, "Stay with this. Drug prices are an issue with regular Medicare and Part D". And I remember at one time, many of the Part D plans didn't cover some of my essential meds, like my prempro (which costs $300/month without insurance) . I'm on alot of meds due to fibromyalgia and many of my meds on Part D were put in the "prior authorization" category.

[doc03]

16. I really haven't had any problems it has a $1000/year maximum out of pocket. A friend of mine

paid $1000 on $1 1/2 million bill.

[MLAA]

8. That sucks.

After working there for 34 years they don’t cover any of my medical insurance. I was a couple of years too young to have the defined benefit pension plan. My husband is on Medicare and has a United Healthcare supplemental plan that is excellent, though expensive. He had several serious surgeries with lengthy hospital stays and didn’t have to pay a dime.

[ratchiweenie]

9. We too have United Healthcare supplemental. It is expensive but my husband recently had heart

surgery. Quadruple bi-pass and Open Heart Aortic Valve Replacement. He was in intensive care for 5 days and in the hopital for a week. The total bill came to under $1,000 for us and so far, the bills we've seen are at $40,000 and rising for their part. It also includes all follow up and physical therapy, etc. So I guess we figure it was well worth the high premium. He's 76 and has diabetis too.

[MLAA]

12. Same here, any bill you do get is worth double checking they processed your supplemental

Insurance. We got one bill for $39, turns out that office didn’t use his supplemental insurance. Once they added that bill went to zero.
I can’t wait to reach Medicare age, my health insurance is crazy high and has high deductibles.
Glad your husband came through the surgeries 🙂💗

[sinkingfeeling]

10. I've been retired from them 20 years and they haven't given us a cost-of-living increase

in that time. When I was hired, back in 1970, retirees got a COLA every year or two.

[MLAA]

13. I joined in 82. When they took away the defined pension option I was 39 so at

least I had time to save to make up for it. The first 10 years they were the absolute best company to work for, the next 10 they were like any other large company and the last 10 or so I think they were probably worse than average.

[beaglelover]

11. Be glad you have retiree medical from your former employer.

The majority of Americans don’t and will not have when they eventually retire. Where I work our retiree medical plan closed to new employees way back in 2002!

[LeftInTX]

14. We're on a PPO/MA retirement plan..

I was gonna go with a Medicare Supplement when I turned 65, but I would have had to purchase part D. I started doing the Rx math and I just stuck with this plan. It's also through United. It's not bad. It's different than other Medicare Advantage Plans because it's a group health plan managed via my husband's employer. (Texas Teacher's Retirement System)

Originally the group health plan was insurance with Aetna, then in 2017, they switched to the Medicare Advantage. Everyone was really upset at first, but it's been pretty good. When I turned 65, I caught up with the same group and many of them said to just stick with group plan MA. They said the Rx prices with Medicare Supplements were higher and the MA was a better deal.

[mn9driver]

17. I just recently retired after 34 years. Age 65 mandatory retirement.

I get nothing at all from my company except the privilege of paying them $24,000 per year for my wife’s COBRA health coverage because she is too young for Medicare.

[Ms. Toad]

18. You have a choice of all Medicare Advantage plans.

So they aren't requiring you to choose between only two of them. Your choice may not be financially advantageous - but that's not the same as not having a choice.

Most of us don't get a subsidy for Part B at all.

Run the numbers and make the choice that fits best for you.

(And if you have not yet committed to Medicare Advantage by skipping the initial enrollment, your best bet will be likely be the original Medicare plus a supplement. If this is a new restriction - it's yet another reason to choose original Medicare. Even if you have fantastic choices at retirement, Medicare Advantage plans - whether employer sponsored or other - are subject to change every year. Original plus supplement is fixed, and grandfathered even when plans are phased out.)

[Straw Man]

19. Sounds familiar.

I'm retired from a community college. They're paying for an Aetna advantage plan for me. If I didn't take it, I'd have to get a Medicare supplement plan on my own dime.