Legality of OneExchange Insisting Retirees Buy Through Them ...

[Bevo]

Yep, although whether it's legal or not is a good question, what if it's illegal? Just like Bob said above, no one is going to fight them. This happens every year with one company or another. We're still getting a ton of these folks which is great, but if they're hung up on OE too much we let them go. Too many others in the floodgates ready to go.

We're 1 day from AEP (although it feels like it started a month and a half ago), if you get folks on the phone from GE or AT&T, just tell them they only need to get the drug plan through OE to get the subsidy, then tell show them all the awesome low rates they've never heard about yet.

If they still want to use OE despite being shown the highest premiums on the market, on to the next...

 

[keith365]

I called OE today, and was told that full reimbursement is available if a retiree chooses a plan outside of OE. The retiree won't have the option of automatic reimbursement. This is a retiree of Nestle. So, depending on the company OE is representing, it seems that the rules change for reimbursement.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

I know someone that works for AON, I would like to ask him about this as well...I would love to do an investigative report for local media outlets and push it out on the newswire.

 

[somarco]

Never trust what you are told unless you want to test your E&O.

 

[ikeroberts]

What does OE actually do? The contracting company buys an annuity that drops yearly deposits into a savings account overseen by OE. OE acts as gatekeeper. You go through them to get the insurance policies they allow, then ask them for reimbursement for medical expenses from YOUR money. In my case I got a Medicare Advantage plan (IU Health). They don't offer automatic reimbursement so I set up reimbursement for Medicare Part B payments. All of the yearly stipend dropped into the savings account is used up for Part B payments, so the account has zero balance at the end of the year. For actual medical expenses like co-pays and deductibles I have an HSA account that was built when I was employed. OneExchange is essentially meaningless in my health care equation, except they control my money and limit my insurance choices. I don't see how any of this is legal, or how they can require you to purchase any insurance. If you just want original Medicare, they should still have no limits on how you use your account as long as it is for qualified medical expenses.
One other thing: when I signed up the 'guide' tried very hard to steer me away from an Advantage plan, including telling me that I could never go back to original Medicare, at which point I asked for someone else. This company is nothing but a ripoff.