Community Chat

[Cats3000]

@Lisa now in AZ "Gotta love big companies".  Sure, take a parting shot at the employer who's salary helped you pay your bills and live.  I guess beating up on corporations  is all the rage today.

[software]

Your husband must sign up for Part A Medicare prior to his 65th birthday.   There is no cost.

I'm on a Medicare HMO plan, it includes Part B & D, there is no additional cost for me after Medicare takes their premium out of my Social Security.   I think it's around $100 per month.

Get it in  writing from his employer but companies do what they want.  Good luck.

[software]

It was probably more about the insurance company than the employer.

I'm retired now but seems like every employer I had would cover you until the end of the month, after all, you paid for it.     The employee pays for a month at a time.

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@Lisa now in AZ wrote:

I retired last Dec. 17 and figured I would start my Medicare supplement on Jan. 1. Nope, my employer sent me a letter stating that my coverage would stop as of midnight on Dec. 17. Gotta love big companies!

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[Cats3000]

@software  Gimme a break!!!  No.  Companies don't do what they want.  Companies are not charities.  Companies need to make money to keep themselves in business and their employees employed.  If they don't do that, they close, the employees are out of jobs and everyone suffers.

[chrystaltree]

Every employer sets their own rules but this is not at all unusual, it's common.  I don't know how Medicare weighs into to this, during the retirement process, many people have double coverage for one month.  I'm sure your husband will get a formal benefit package that will explain his benefits.  

[Still Raining]

He should be given written confirmation of the dates.  I did.

[catter70]

I retired in March of 2015 at age 63. On retirement we are given a "bucket" of money to use towards health care, drugs, dental, etc. Whatever you chose.I used mine towards healthcare, dental and drugs until I went on medicare. I could have used what is left as supplemental if I wanted, but I chose to just put it towards my dental plan because I don't have coverage for that. I still have  a few years left for that

[SahmIam]

IMHO, it depends on the employer AND your benefit package (which can vary widely depending on where you stand in the company).

So far I've seen:

* They day you leave is the last day of coverage

* Coverage for 30 days after your last day (the most common)

* Coverage till the end of of the month (which can mean 30 days, 15 days or 1 day if you leave with one day left in the month)

* Coverage for 3, 6 12 months after you leave

* Coverage till you die after you leave (the rarest but was common with my father, FIL and others in their age bracket).

[CelticCrafter]

When my husband retired his benefits for both of us continued on until the last day of the month before he turned 65.

Once he became Medicare eligible we lost the coverage.  I was on my own for 5 months and bought COBRA until I became eligible for Medicare.

In my case COBRA was a lot less expensive than going through the marketplace.

[hckynut]

@Flika13 

I can only tell you my experience when I retired from my job at age 52. My insurance was part of my retirement package. I was covered, at no cost, by my former employer. This lasted only a few years as this benefit was negotiated by my Union, which were 3 year contracts with the company.

That Union decided since "retirees" no longer paid Union Dues, they hung us out to dry. They not only did not protect our Health Insurance Benefits, they also removed us from ever getting our retirement income raises. Thus since retired I received only 1 pension financial raise, and that was in 1994.

Every year my contribution to my Medical Care increased exponentially until I was 65 and eligible for Medicare. Worked for the same company for 33 years. That's my personal story.

hckynut