Should retirees over 65 to stay with employer healthcare plan? Is Medicare parts A, B, and D better?

[p***@gmail.com]

My employer offers the coordinated retiree plan (Blue Cross, Health Partner, and Preferred One) for $270/month but requires Medicare Part A, B and D.
If you are in Medicare part A, B, and D you can buy Medicare Supplement Insurance to cover the 20% deductible for the cost as low as $250/month.
So why would retirees hang on to employer coordinated plan if it is cheaper to stay completely with Medicare?

[Retired]

Post by p***@gmail.com
My employer offers the coordinated retiree plan (Blue Cross,
Health Partner, and Preferred One) for $270/month but requires
Medicare Part A, B and D. If you are in Medicare part A, B, and D
you can buy Medicare Supplement Insurance to cover the 20%
deductible for the cost as low as $250/month. So why would retirees
hang on to employer coordinated plan if it is cheaper to stay
completely with Medicare?

In general, you would stay with the employer plan if it has better
coverage, and they are not going to drop it in the next 20 years or so.

What "letter" plan (A-N) is the Medigap for $250 a month ?

Does the employer supplement have the same coverages as the Medigap ?
Equal covered procedures, co-pays, deductibles, etc IOW, are they
"apples to apples" in coverage ?

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by Retired

Post by p***@gmail.com
My employer offers the coordinated retiree plan (Blue Cross,
Health Partner, and Preferred One) for $270/month but requires
Medicare Part A, B and D. If you are in Medicare part A, B, and D
you can buy Medicare Supplement Insurance to cover the 20%
deductible for the cost as low as $250/month. So why would retirees
hang on to employer coordinated plan if it is cheaper to stay
completely with Medicare?

In general, you would stay with the employer plan if it has better
coverage, and they are not going to drop it in the next 20 years or so.
What "letter" plan (A-N) is the Medigap for $250 a month ?
Does the employer supplement have the same coverages as the Medigap ?
Equal covered procedures, co-pays, deductibles, etc IOW, are they
"apples to apples" in coverage ?

According to article below (2013), medicare supplement premium is about $200, by now it would be about $250. The author also mentioned that most healthy seniors would not need supplemental insurance.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-belk/medicare-supplemental-policies_b_3901861.html
For medigap, the premium can be as low as $300 to high as $6,000 a month depending on plan (A to N) age and gender. It looks like my employer plan is better.
http://www.weissratings.com/medigap/compare-plans/compare-prices-age-gender-zip.aspx
Med

[Retired]

Post by p***@gmail.com
According to article below (2013), medicare supplement premium is
about $200, by now it would be about $250. The author also
mentioned that most healthy seniors would not need supplemental
insurance.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-belk/medicare-supplemental-policies_b_3901861.html

While the article may be correct re averages, ISTM insurance is meant
to help with the "what-if", worst case situations. What if a heart
attack ran up a $250,000 bill ?

(BTW, ISTM this author had some kind of axe to grind ;-)

Post by p***@gmail.com
For medigap, the premium can be as low as $300 to high as $6,000 a
month depending on plan (A to N) age and gender. It looks like my
employer plan is better.
http://www.weissratings.com/medigap/compare-plans/compare-prices-age-gender-zip.aspx

Wow, I'd like to know where they got those numbers. They look like
ANNUAL costs, not monthly. As you may know, Medigap rates vary by, and
are controlled by, each State. What are the rates in your State ? Here
is a link to the current rates in CT.
http://www.ct.gov/cid/lib/cid/Medicare_Supplement_Insurance_Rates.pdf

Granted some rates could be hard on a person's budget, which I think
is why more people opt for the HiDed-Plan F if they are reasonably
healthy.

Personally, at age 65 I was talked into a Part C MA-PD plan. It has
been OK so far. Premium started out at $0/month (zero). at age 71 now
it is up to $95/month. I am considering switching to a Medigap
HiDed-Plan F, as I could handle the $2180 deductible if necessary.

[Retired]

Post by p***@gmail.com
My employer offers the coordinated retiree plan (Blue Cross,
Health Partner, and Preferred One) for $270/month but requires
Medicare Part A, B and D. If you are in Medicare part A, B, and D
you can buy Medicare Supplement Insurance to cover the 20%
deductible for the cost as low as $250/month. So why would retirees
hang on to employer coordinated plan if it is cheaper to stay
completely with Medicare?

Just saw your post on the poor, beleaguered, soc. retirement NG. You
might want to wander over to the Forum at
http://www.city-data.com/forum/health-insurance/
where this and other insurance issues are discussed in a moderated format.

First try a search for posts related to your question, then post a query
with as much detail as you care to. There are several very
knowledgeable posters who hang out in this Forum who will respond.

[Zazz]

pb> $250/month. So why would retirees hang on to employer coordinated plan
pb> if it is cheaper to stay completely with Medicare?

Lack of knowledge on where to look, no resources, contacts, local community
groups, etc. I could go on. For most seniors approaching this age, the
confusion of information is mind boggling.