TRS Retired Medical Insurance..it's changed!

[Huntingfool]

And this plan is available to retirees at no monthly cost?

I was paying 1500/MONTH when I retired early on COBRA, with a 6500 deductible and no co pays. What you have sounds like an amazing plan to me.....

Exactly - most employer sponsored plans have $3000-$5000 and up deductibles plus it is now common for these plans to also have a $100-200 deductible on prescriptions before co-pays kick in.

I would take the plan he described above in a minute

[Huntingfool]

While there is some wisdom in what you say you are remiss on two facts. First the TRS insurance has been expensive and pitiful for at least 33 years. That's how longbive carried my wife on mine.
Second I have seen a steady decline in the quality of the coverage I have with the passing and forcing of "Obamacare". The facts are clear, real and documented.

Gary

If the TRS coverage is as described by some folks above ($1500 deductible, 80-20) then that is outstanding coverage nowdays

[bullhead44]

And this plan is available to retirees at no monthly cost?

I was paying 1500/MONTH when I retired early on COBRA, with a 6500 deductible and no co pays. What you have sounds like an amazing plan to me.....

The monthly cost is $200 for an individual or $689 if you want to cover a spouse.

deductible is $1500 for individual and $3000 wit spouse for in network

if you go out of network, deductibles go up to $3000 and $6000

max out of pocket for in network is $5650 and $11300
max out of pocket for out of network is $11300 and $22600

Not sure how those number compare with other peoples insurance, but those are the numbers off the TRS website

[HogHunter34]

My dad was fortunate to retire with the state with ERS benefits. He’s 72 & Medicare is his primary coverage and his state insurance is through Humana picks up the tab what Medicare doesn’t cover. He pays $0 for premium. Two years ago my mother who had the same coverage he did went through cancer diagnostics & treatment for 8 months and they paid $0 from all of that. Even before Medicare kicked in as primary coverage when they went to the Dr is was a $25 copay. Their health expenses have been almost nothing. He has to pay a little $ on some of his medication but for the most part he doesn’t have to worry too much on healthcare costs. I remind him how fortunate he is

[Huntingfool]

The monthly cost is $200 for an individual or $689 if you want to cover a spouse.

deductible is $1500 for individual and $3000 wit spouse for in network

if you go out of network, deductibles go up to $3000 and $6000

max out of pocket for in network is $5650 and $11300
max out of pocket for out of network is $11300 and $22600

Not sure how those number compare with other peoples insurance, but those are the numbers off the TRS website

I have done employee benefits for 40 years so I am familiar with what the average or "normal" employer medical plans look like. The one described above is way better than most - A $1500 deductible is very unusual in the market place. Also the $200 employee cost and $689 spouse cost is very competitive for this level of benefits.

[bullhead44]

My dad was fortunate to retire with the state with ERS benefits. He’s 72 & Medicare is his primary coverage and his state insurance is through Humana picks up the tab what Medicare doesn’t cover. He pays $0 for premium. Two years ago my mother who had the same coverage he did went through cancer diagnostics & treatment for 8 months and they paid $0 from all of that. Even before Medicare kicked in as primary coverage when they went to the Dr is was a $25 copay. Their health expenses have been almost nothing. He has to pay a little $ on some of his medication but for the most part he doesn’t have to worry too much on healthcare costs. I remind him how fortunate he is

My wife is on ERS. Was your mother also have her own ERS or did he carry her on his?

[Shane]

I would be ecstatic with that High Deductible Health Plan as the majority of them these days are this exact same plan, but with a $3,000-$5,000 deductible instead of a $1,500 deductible. Open an HSA acct and direct $125/month into the HSA acct from your paycheck so when you have expenses towards your deductible they are sitting there waiting on you to use them in a tax advantaged account.

Yep. Ours is a $4,000/person, $8,000/family deductible. HSA is awesome. We've been fortunate over the last few years to not max out deductibles, so we've accumulated a few thousand dollars in our HSA. We don't need to contribute much to it anymore (knock on wood). If/when we need to spend it, we'll start contributing bigger again.

Hummm, do you get a paycheck when your retired??

My friends and family that are retired teachers get paychecks each month from TRS. Some of them get those and get additional paychecks from the schools they went back to work for after they "retired" too.

[HogHunter34]

My wife is on ERS. Was your mother also have her own ERS or did he carry her on his?

She had it as well. Both were state employees.

[hbender1]

Medical insurance at one time was for when you had a major illness or injury and was meant to cover major medical bills. Sometime back in the 70's and 80's they decided to try keep everybody healthy by changing medical insurance into the catch-all do-all "Healthcare" insurance and decided to cover every phone call, office visit, sneeze, band aid..... you name it. The insurance companies and medical lawsuits succeeded in putting individual providers out of business and with that - competitive pricing went with it. Only the insurance companies compete.

Go try to purchase some "insurance" on your vehicle that covers all fuel, oil changes, tires, maintenance, etc and see how much it costs......

[DRT]

My wife is still actively employed so maybe it is different.
Her monthly cost is over $600 a month not $200. And that's only close to the coverage I carry her on. You can get better coverage on BC/BS type insurance for the money they charge.

Gary