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Hello,
My wife and I are currently 50 and are planning our retirement years as best as we can. It is very difficult funding 401ks and IRA's just to make it to the retirement years but we both would prefer to retire at 62. My main question is during retirement, do you use Cobra or Medicare ? Is it possible to retire at 62 and have Medicare? I understand I do not completely understand the insurance process but I was hoping to hear from someone on this site. We would appreciate all of your suggestions. Thank You!
You need creditable insurance when you go on medicare or you could be subject to higher premiums. COBRA is not creditable insurance. This is a confusing area and there is a lot of miss information. You sign up for medicare part A at 65. Not before.
I think you will have to get a policy on your own to bridge the gap between employer coverage and medicare.
COBRA runs for a set period of time. It will not get you to age 65.
The rule will probably change by the time you become 65.
There is some confusion here.
Cobra is fine until medicare. But there are some dates you need to watch carefully or you can be without coverage for 11 months.
Cobra length is determined by state. In ny cobra was increased to 3 years. Cobra is fine for sliding in to medicare. You have to apply 2-3 months in advance of 65 with cobra to have it effective at 65. If you file on your birthday it won't be effective until the following month.
With cobra if you miss filing for medicare by 3 months after your birthday you no longer qualify for open enrollment. You can file only jan and feb the following year but it will not become effective until july 1st.
Blowing this by staying on cobra to long can leave you with a big gap in coverage and a penalty.
Using cobra is fine and is my own plan from 62 to 65 but just make sure you file at least 2-3 months before your birthday.
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-14-2015 at 07:11 PM..
Either you will be covered by a company plan pre Medicare or if not then thru ACA exchanges. I do suggest you consider if possible starting a health saving account which will help offset your cost before Medicare. Then in Medicare years have a Medigap to limit your risk of huge healthcare cost that is more likely as you age. Securing healthcare risk is huge burden off your back in retirement; so to speak. By time you retire advantage plans with the elimination of extra payment will be different at least.Many think that once they get to Medicare they are safe but forget that the healthcare risk is higher as you age of having a huge cost problem.
There is some confusion here.
Cobra is fine until medicare. But there are some dates you need to watch carefully or you can be without coverage for 11 months.
Cobra length is determined by state. In ny cobra was increased to 3 years. Cobra is fine for sliding in to medicare. You have to apply 2-3 months in advance of 65 with cobra to have it effective at 65. If you file on your birthday it won't be effective until the following month.
With cobra if you miss filing for medicare by 3 months after your birthday you no longer qualify for open enrollment. You can file only jan and feb the following year but it will not become effective until july 1st.
Blowing this by staying on cobra to long can leave you with a big gap in coverage and a penalty.
Using cobra is fine and is my own plan from 62 to 65 but just make sure you file at least 2-3 months before your birthday.
I have been told by Ss employees COBRA is fine and is not. My conclusion is that COBRA is not ok if you want to avoid increased costs. The point is make sure you can support using COBRA if you have too. You will need written documentation. The question to be answered is , is COBRA considered creditable insurance by SS.
This comes from COBRA Bites, Medicare Part B Insurance Coverage Penalty - AARP Bulletin
The COBRA catch
Social Security officials explain that under the law, people can postpone signing up for Part B without penalty only while they have group health insurance provided by an employer for whom they or their spouses are still working. Therefore, time on COBRA—used after employment has ended—does not entitle them to special enrollment.
Although this rule is 24 years old, in recent months AARP and other consumer help organizations have both seen a significant uptick in the number of calls complaining about it.
The Medicare Rights Center, which tracks calls involving Part B enrollment problems, reports that this year more than 21 percent of these relate to the COBRA issue. The timing may be due to the fact that when the economic recession hit in 2008, more older Americans lost their jobs and opted for COBRA coverage without thinking to sign up for Part B—and are only now facing the consequences. Nobody yet knows how many people are affected.
not from SS so maybe it is wrong.
Your employer should give you a letter each year saying you have creditable ins. Ask if the do this if you have COBRA.
Hello,
My wife and I are currently 50 and are planning our retirement years as best as we can. It is very difficult funding 401ks and IRA's just to make it to the retirement years but we both would prefer to retire at 62. My main question is during retirement, do you use Cobra or Medicare ? Is it possible to retire at 62 and have Medicare? I understand I do not completely understand the insurance process but I was hoping to hear from someone on this site. We would appreciate all of your suggestions. Thank You!
COBRA coverage is generally the total amount that your employer pays for the group insurance. It is NOT subsidized and therefore, is much more expensive than employee coverage. In MANY cases, you can find insurance plans that are less than COBRA.
Do your employers offer any medical coverage for retirees. Unless they do, you are on the hook for the full cost.
Or visit your local SS office. Don't make plans based on anything except official info. And be sure you understand what you hear. I think there are probably some publications you can ask for, and there is likely info online. But for this important thing, go to the source.
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Originally Posted by murph1982
Hello,
My wife and I are currently 50 and are planning our retirement years as best as we can. It is very difficult funding 401ks and IRA's just to make it to the retirement years but we both would prefer to retire at 62. My main question is during retirement, do you use Cobra or Medicare ? Is it possible to retire at 62 and have Medicare? I understand I do not completely understand the insurance process but I was hoping to hear from someone on this site. We would appreciate all of your suggestions. Thank You!
I retired at age 49, w/o healthcare and pre-existing conditions kept me out of coverage availability, and US Gov took away all 4 of my affordable options (Catastrophic and previous HSA's)
So...
We are self / not insured and along with 750,000 other USA citizens we are using Medi-vacations / medical tourism.(along with many more than that Europeans for last 4 decades... )
Not SMART, not risk free; but necessary. (when rates go up 1000% since retirement planning)
I cannot imagine what medicare will look like in 15 yrs (when you are eligible).
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