Your Group Health Plan May Be Worse Than Medicare
Too many people assume that if they want to continue working past age 65 that remaining on employer group health is better than Medicare!
Just a few years ago, the quality of health insurance employees got at work was much better than it is now. If a client was planning to work past age 65, I almost always recommended that they stay on their plan at work and not even consider Medicare. That has changed.
Medicare insurance options have gotten better and employer health plans have gotten worse. By worse, I mean higher monthly costs, higher co-pays, and much higher deductibles.
Medicare Advantage plans didn’t go national until 2005. Since then, the plans have become widely available and benefits have consistently gotten better each year.
People still assume that their health insurance at work is always a better option than Medicare — without doing a comparison
A man from Chicago called me about keeping his wife on his group plan as she was turning age 65. It cost him $700 per month to keep her on his plan. A Medicare Supplement Plan G for her was only $150. Medicare Part B costs $170 and a drug plan was $20. She could a top notch Medicare plan for almost half the cost of staying on group insurance. But the real kicker was the deductible on the work plan: $3,000. Medicare Supplement Plan G has an annual deductible of only $233.
When you compare benefit to benefit and cost to cost, hands down his wife was better off on Medicare
Some people assume that Medicare Supplements are very expensive. While they can be (I’m looking at you New York and Florida) at age 65 most people can purchase a Plan G for under $130 per month. Medicare Advantage plans are all over the TV touting $0 monthly premium plans with many extra benefits.
You have choices depending on what state you live in, you may find a private Medicare plan that offers more than your plan at work. Or not.
