Community Chat

[Starpolisher]

DH is in the process of retiring. We have so many questions! He is a railroad employee and there are several different sources that have to be contacted for info!(unlike myself- I'm a teacher and we only have to contact one agency) We have to take and pay for our vision and dental care and he has to take it now or he can not ever get it through them again. My question is should we also take the major medical now. Dh is still covered by my insurance until I retire. When I retire I will also have to pay for my vision and dental but I don't think I will have to pay for major medical. We are not eligible for medicare yet(60 and 61) Will we need a supplemental insurance?(like Humana, AARP ...?) Right now we figured we'd just say yes to everything and see how it all pans out but I know I can get "good and wise" advice here!

Thanks,

Star

[muttmom]

If he is covered under your insurance, he doesn't need another policy now.

[DottieBlue]

If you are presently covered for major medical/prescriptions and will be until age 65, you do not have to get a "supplemental" medical insurance.

You will only need to get a supplemental medical insurance when you go on Medicare to supplement "Parts A & B" Medicare and to cover prescriptions. Medicare Part A covers hospital, Medicare Part B covers medical.

I would advise you to get confirmation as to whether you can carry your major medical/prescriptions after you retire if you plan to retire before you go on Medicare.

All of this IS very confusing! And you want to be very careful not to make a mistake because so much of this is a one-time decision. I would think your husband's Personnel Office would have a "retirement person" who would be able to give you good information about the do's and don'ts that would help you make these extremely important decisions.

Keep asking questions, no matter how many phone calls you have to make, until you feel satisfied and comfortable to make the right decisions.

Good luck!!

[151949]

I have a good friend who is a retired RR employee. He gets his and his wife's insurance from the railroad still, and he is 70.

[Starpolisher]

On 1/30/2014 DeltaOne said:

If you are presently covered for major medical/prescriptions and will be until age 65, you do not have to get a "supplemental" medical insurance.

You will only need to get a supplemental medical insurance when you go on Medicare to supplement "Parts A & B" Medicare and to cover prescriptions. Medicare Part A covers hospital, Medicare Part B covers medical.

I would advise you to get confirmation as to whether you can carry your major medical/prescriptions after you retire if you plan to retire before you go on Medicare.

All of this IS very confusing! And you want to be very careful not to make a mistake because so much of this is a one-time decision. I would think your husband's Personnel Office would have a "retirement person" who would be able to give you good information about the do's and don'ts that would help you make these extremely important decisions.

Keep asking questions, no matter how many phone calls you have to make, until you feel satisfied and comfortable to make the right decisions.

Good luck!!

Thanks for the replies! DeltaOne, thank you for explaining the supplement insurance to me and for telling me about the major medical /prescriptions. DH works for CSXT railroad. He's been there for 41 years. Their personnel Office is in Florida. He works out of Bucks County PA and we live in NJ. We've been to the Railroad Retirement Board in Newark, NJ but they were of little help with medical benefits. Neither was the personnel office. You have to call Aetna about medical. Having never gone through this, you just don't know what to ask and are afraid you will miss something! I will be retiring in Feb. 2015. I'm a teacher in NJ and for me it's much easier! We have a local office, staffed by other retired association members who have been through it and tell you exactly what to do! (Not my personnel office.) I can also go to Trenton, NJ for questions regarding my retirement benefits. Thanks for the help!

[Lakk]

starpolisher

I can only speak for after you and your Dh retires. I am the widow of a retired CSXT employee. He retired in 2000. The Railroad Retirement Board took care of everything, trust them. Do yourself a favor and check out HealthSpring for your supplement. (well it's now Cigna-HealthSpring) He was older than I am, when he passed away in 2005 the ambulance left here and went to the nearest hospital 2 miles away, then transferred him immediately to Vanderbilt Hosp. as there is no vascular surgeon on staff at night in this town but at Vandy. Frankly he was gone when he left the house. He had HealthSpring... I paid $100.00 to the first hospital and $100.00 to the second hospital that was IT! ONE of the hospital bills was over $40,000.00 and there were tons of bills from both hospitals, I just sent them to HealthSpring. He wasn't in both hospitals together a total of 8-9 hours. Then when I went on Medicare I took out HealthSprings (6 years ago) and I don't give it a second thought, I don't worry about anything. There is no monthly premium. That being said I also probably take less med's than anybody on the planet, they are usually 3-5-7 dollars each. My total out of pocket last YEAR was $94.81 and I have not had to test them because I haven't been in the hospital. My Co-pays are PCP $15, ER $50, urgent care $30, Specialist $30 But they did tell me to NEVER EVER give anyone the Medicare card always give them the HealthSprings card.

But as you know you need to check out every plan and decide what's best for you and your health needs but my experience with HealthSpring's has been fabulous, just study them all.

Good Luck.

[DottieBlue]

Star, there may be a RR Retiree's Association/Group. Search for it on-line. If there is one, call them and they could give you some good info. Also, if your DH is in the process of retiring, a personnel person must be processing his paperwork? That person should be able to help or be able to refer you to someone. Did you call the Personnel Office in Florida? Even tho it will cost you a long distance call, I'd try them again and ask for someone who specializes in retiree benefits.

Also, write down a list of questions you need info about. Be specific when you ask, and take notes of the person you spoke to, and date and time, and the info they give you.

But perhaps the first step for you to take is to call your current insurance company and ask them what changes, if any, will occur when your husband retires. If you and your husband can keep your present insurance until age 65 (or perhaps even longer), whether you retire before age 65, you just keep on going the way you are now. Your present insurance company can give you this information.

I know it's overwhelming and confusing. But keep calling. If you get the runaround, ask to speak to their supervisor until you get someone who can give you the right answers to your questions. This is not the time to be shy!! Sometimes you need to get pushy and it sounds like this is one of them.

Don't give up!! Good luck!