Annual enrollment may start one month early?

[Winter_123]

I don't have a dog in this fight but am trying to understand the bit about the retirees being "devatated.

They are getting 300 dollars a month toward their health insurance. Presumably they would have guaranteed issue coming into a med supp from the termination of a creditable plan so why all of the talk about health issues at their age etc. So they get Part B for 96 a month then they have a couple hundred to put toward a supp.

Where am I going wrong here?

Winter

 

[insurance0707]

Their losing their group prescription coverage and having to go with a Medicare Part D prescription plan that some of the GM retiree's will now have a gap in coverage/doughnut hole on their prescriptions, they didn't have that before.

Alot of these retiree's are in their 70's and 80's. Some of the Med supp premiums are quite high at those ages

They're losing their vision coverage (glasses, contacts, etc)

They're losing their dental coverage (they will be offered a stand alone dental plan but they'll have to pay for it)

They were promised this coverage for life

And finally.....they get to try and figure out this whole mess of Medicare Advantage plans, Med supp plans, Med Part D prescriiption plans.......

 

[insurance0707]

You're right though, they'll no longer have to pay $250 a month in premium, GM will pay them $300 a month. They do have Guarantee issue rights and if they choose a good plan they will no longer have a $ 500 deductible to meet each year like they do with their current plan.....so there are some pluses

 

[Frank Stastny]

I don't have a dog in this fight but am trying to understand the bit about the retirees being "devatated.

They are getting 300 dollars a month toward their health insurance. Presumably they would have guaranteed issue coming into a med supp from the termination of a creditable plan so why all of the talk about health issues at their age etc. So they get Part B for 96 a month then they have a couple hundred to put toward a supp.

Where am I going wrong here?

Winter

You're not!

They are just acting like a bunch of little kids. Promised for life. And I promise I won't... never mind.

I have seen smaller companies doing this for years and predicted that the larger ones would eventually follow suit and cut out benefits for retirees.

These people, as you said, are getting an extra $300 per month to purchase insurance with. I don't know of any Med Supps that are going to cost that much. However, I'll bet the majority of them opt for an MA plan because of cost and then will bitch to high heaven when they have co-pays to meet.

They should consider themselves damn lucky to have had those benefits for this long.

I don't want any part of listening to them bitch and moan while trying to sell them something. I'm afraid I'd get pissed off and walk out of the appointment. I'll let other agents put up with that crap.

How is your company paid health insurance working out for you? Probably the same as mine is.

Once again, I'm holding back.

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

THe RX is what will hurt some of them. Other than that they are better off. These retirees are going to crap their pants(some might do it regularly anyway) when they see how much rx costs are.

 

[Winter_123]

You're not!

They are just acting like a bunch of little kids. Promised for life. And I promise I won't... never mind.

I have seen smaller companies doing this for years and predicted that the larger ones would eventually follow suit and cut out benefits for retirees.

Some companies are really running a shell came. They provide group supplemental medicare benefits with the company as the secondary payer behind medicare. Then they charge the employee 300 a month for their contribution to the plan and require them to continue to pay Part B at 96 as month. As stated, it's just a shell game. The employee could just keep their 300 and go out on the street and get a supp or a low premium MA along with a Part D plan. Yeh, I know, they might lost that 25% discount on glasses down at Lenscrafters which they can only get through their group. Then next week you drive by Lenscrafters and everything is 30% off anyway.

Winter