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I am torn whether I should get a physical now before it runs out so I can be treated while I have the good insurance or skip any medical tests, in case, they find something that "interferes" with getting a policy.
I have relatives who ran into this problem. Personally, if possible, I'd stay away from the tests.
If you can afford a high deductible, you MIGHT be able to find a plan for husband and wife for less than $1,000 per month. My COBRA at 102% will be $1400 for the two of us, it's a great plan including dental, but I certainly can not justify that amount for the years until Medicare kicks in. Thankfully we are healthy, and have no existing conditions~so I will be shopping for insurance in the near future.
Some people try (or are forced) to get through the interim period without health insurance, but that only works if you don't really have anything to lose in the event of a catastrophic health event.
If you can afford a high deductible, you MIGHT be able to find a plan for husband and wife for less than $1,000 per month. My COBRA at 102% will be $1400 for the two of us, it's a great plan including dental, but I certainly can not justify that amount for the years until Medicare kicks in. Thankfully we are healthy, and have no existing conditions~so I will be shopping for insurance in the near future.
We're paying $1,207 a month (it actually is going down, since it was $1,518) for a high deductible plan - $7,500 per person. It's not COBRA but rather the company's retiree health insurance. No rx, no dental, no vision. Because the state is forcing the insurance company to add it, we will be able to get one exam plus standard preventive tests per year starting in 2011 with a small deductible.
We were unable to get private insurance for ridiculous reasons that boil down to "you're over 50 and we don't want to cover you." There is a high-risk pool available in my state, but it's not significantly cheaper and is much more limiting about where you can go and what you can have done. I am reluctant to switch to the state plan because my current plan CAN'T drop me unless, of course, the company DH retired from decides to drop the entire plan - always possible, that.
If I look back 10 years, I would never have paid enough in medical costs for it to be worth my current plan - but I'm not looking backward, I'm looking forward 10 years. As they say in the stock market, "past performance is no guarantee of future results."
We're paying $1,207 a month (it actually is going down, since it was $1,518) for a high deductible plan - $7,500 per person. It's not COBRA but rather the company's retiree health insurance. No rx, no dental, no vision. Because the state is forcing the insurance company to add it, we will be able to get one exam plus standard preventive tests per year starting in 2011 with a small deductible.
We were unable to get private insurance for ridiculous reasons that boil down to "you're over 50 and we don't want to cover you." There is a high-risk pool available in my state, but it's not significantly cheaper and is much more limiting about where you can go and what you can have done. I am reluctant to switch to the state plan because my current plan CAN'T drop me unless, of course, the company DH retired from decides to drop the entire plan - always possible, that.
If I look back 10 years, I would never have paid enough in medical costs for it to be worth my current plan - but I'm not looking backward, I'm looking forward 10 years. As they say in the stock market, "past performance is no guarantee of future results."
I think I'd find a better health insurance agent if I were you. I just found a Health Savings Account qualified plan that is a PPO, meaning you can go outside of the network and there are no primary care physician requirements, in the 97086 zip code, with a $3000 deductible and 100% coverage after that-- for everything including prescriptions for $344 per month for a 54 year old female. This is based on standard rates for someone in average health. That comes to a total of $4128 for the year and the deductible is $3000 not $7500.
Or, for even less money, $247/mo, you could have a $1500 deductible and then 50% coinsurance until you have a total of $5000 out of pocket INCLUDING your deductible. In other words, after your deductible is paid you'd split the next $7500 of medical expenses, 50/50 with the insurance company. After that they'd pay 100% for all expenses beyond that for the rest of the year.
I think you can do a lot better than you are doing now. Too bad I'm not licensed in your state. I'm sure I could find you a much better health insurance value than you have now.
Here's a tip that might help though: AVOID plans with co-pays for office visits and prescriptions like the PLAGUE! Not only are they a rip off but the coverage isn't nearly as strong as the Health Savings Acct qualified plans WITHOUT co-pays. You end up getting FAR better protection for your money for a plan without co-pays- with no exceptions!
Also don't get sucked in to plans with bells and whistles that aren't worth the extra costs....a plan that might pay for an eye exam or something, for example. These plans might charge $5000 more a year and all you get for that is a $100 value from the eye exam they throw in. (I'm not kidding.) Do yourself a favor and save yourself the $5000 in extra health insurance costs and pay for your own eye exam.
Insurance companies aren't stupid. They know that health insurance is for most people an emotional decision rather than a financial one as it should be. Even human resource directors are clueless as to how to evaluate health plans. Sadly, health insurance agents are mostly order takers for whatever type of plan the client wants.
They don't take the time to educate and point out which plans provide the best coverage for the money and explain why and how they are. If they did, we wouldn't have so many small businesses with overpriced co-pay plans and insurance premiums in the stratosphere and there would have been no health insurance crisis.
I think I'd find a better health insurance agent if I were you. I just found a Health Savings Account qualified plan that is a PPO, meaning you can go outside of the network and there are no primary care physician requirements, in the 97086 zip code, with a $3000 deductible and 100% coverage after that--
...
It varies greatly with state (some are substantially higher than others) and age (there is a big jump at 60).
We have the lowest premiums available in my area... EACH of us pays $220 month (up 9% this year) for a $10,000 deductible policy with no drug (no vision, no dental) coverage.
I think I'd find a better health insurance agent if I were you.
Read my post - we TRIED to find other insurance and were turned down for extremely minor pre-existing conditions. We looked at PPO, HMO AND HSA plans in our state.
I am reading all these posts about people that decide to retire in their 50's and early 60's and I am really curious about how they are handling the huge health insurance costs associated with being self-insured.
Isn't health insurance the main reason people are working till 65, Medicare age? We're talking a few thousand a month for insurance premiums.
I could easily retire at 60 if it wasn't for that situation, so I am wondering how the early retirees are handling it.
In ranking expenses, it's an expense worth having and I choose a more expensive plan. I'm 59 and retired after 34 years. I've had various operations throughout my career so my gut told me, good insurance is important for me in retirement. I just had cataract surgery last week. Some people, me included, would say that's an old person affliction. My insurance covered 85%. I paid $204. I take 4 perscriptions daily and probably will for the rest of my life. Two are expensive and two are really cheap (seriously, aspirin is more expensive that 2 of them together for a 90 day period). Besides health insurance, I also have dental insurance that I pay extra for. I'm a retired federal employee. Unlike some state, county and city workers, we pay into our health insurance. I'll be dumped into Medicare when I become of age.
I live in a cheap state. My rent for a suburban modern two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in Tennessee was about $350 per month cheaper than my one bedroom, one bathroom suburban apartment in Maryland on the day I retired. Now that difference is over $400 per month for a twice as big place. There is no state income tax where I live now. My utility bill (all electric) is easily half of what I paid for that smaller place in Maryland. My expenses in retirement are much lower than when I was working. I have virtually no more dry cleaning expenses in retirement and I fill up the car maybe once every 2 weeks instead of the every third or fourth day when I was working because I live pretty close (within a mile or two) to almost everything I do regularly. That includes, hobbies, meetings, doctors, supermarket, post office, classes, movie theater, the lake, drug store, restaurants, county clerk. No more expenses for new work clothes and shoes. I'm not throwing the max amount allowed into my thrift savings plan, anymore. Cheap, throw in the washing machine, no iron play clothes are what I live in. I don't go out for lunch 4 - 5 days a week, like I did when I was working. If I go out to lunch (and I do that once a month with my book group) lunch is under $10 no matter where we go. While my digital cameras cost money, to actually do the hobby a few times a week costs nothing. All of our state parks are free. Our national park is free. The town parks are free. We have no toll roads/bridges. I take classes that cost $95 per year (you can take up to 15 classes a year, 5 per semester for that $95). I usually take a driving vacation out of state once a year, sometimes twice a year (because I don't like to fly). Because I'm doing less daily driving, my car insurance is cheaper. My biggest expense is cable (computer and TV) and cell phone.
The point is, I can afford to pay for health insurance (and life insurance) in retirement because even though my pension (gross) is about half what I was earning when I retired, I actually have more discretionary money now than when I worked simply because of where I live (cheap state and I live near to things I do), my retirement activities/hobbies aren't expensive and simply because I'm retired. Going to work really costs money.
The point is, I can afford to pay for health insurance (and life insurance) in retirement because even though my pension (gross) is about half what I was earning when I retired, I actually have more discretionary money now than when I worked simply because of where I live (cheap state and I live near to things I do), my retirement activities/hobbies aren't expensive and simply because I'm retired. Going to work really costs money.
No, you can afford to pay for health insurance because the government is paying about 70% of your monthly premium! Your situation (and mine as well) is completely irrelevant to the OP's question. We were able to retire without considering what health insurance we would have for the simple reason that our health insurance costs are exactly the same as when we were working. Most people in the private sector don't have that perk. They have to scramble around and hope that some company will offer them insurance. If they can't find one, or can't afford an individual policy, then they must keep working until Medicare kicks in at age 65. That's what this thread is about.
I'm only going to be paying $431/month beginning next month, with the government kicking in an additional $875/month. (If you have a self only policy, then you'll be paying $187/month, with the government kicking in another $391.) That's quite different than someone having to figure out how to pay the entire premium every month - assuming they can qualify for one.
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