Forced Retirement - Help with Insurance

Just found this thread. First, I hope all of you are surviving.
ObamaCare sucks. If one can find anything better use it.
Talk to your HR, veterans groups...anyone. My wife is stuck on her healthmarket policy until next August. Unless they move the goal posts she'll get on Medicare.
 
My wife has been using the Obamacare Exchange to buy her insurance even though we are well above the point where she gets any subsidy. She has been saving several thousand $ annually over the cost of buying her insurance independently. Next March, she will finally be eligible for Medicare and she can buy a supplemental
plan
 
One of the features of Obamacare is that insurance companies cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. My younger sister had diabetes and it was considered a pre-existing condition at the time she got health insurance and was not covered. She died young due to complications of the diabetes and I often think that if Obama care had been in place she would have gotten better health care and might still be with us. My point is that Obama care provides more than just a marketplace to purchase health care. It also set and comprehensive minimum standard.
 
Check into Obama care to see if she can just use her income for eligibility. By brother does that and pays near nothing since he technically has zero income.
 
Flyinfool said:
Check into Obama care to see if she can just use her income for eligibility. By brother does that and pays near nothing since he technically has zero income.
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Obamacare uses the combined household income to determine eligibility for a subsidy. When I retired, my wife retired from her business at 55 . She gets her insurance through the Exchange. Our capital gains, interest, and dividends are what push our income up past qualifying for a subsidy but there are AHA plans that will beat the deal you can get buying independent insurance so it's worth a look.
 
Once you are on Medicare, if you elect to use a part B supplemental insurance and part D drug plan, the fee that you pay the federal government is determined by your household income two years previously. Keeping your income as low as possible will reduce those fees. We do so if we can by electing to sell some holdings at a loss if possible to reduce our capital gains. I had one shocker year where I received a lump sum payout of funds held in escrow from the sale of our company. It shot the Medicare fees to the maximum, I appealed to Medicare, arguing that this was a one time occurance and not representative of our current income. Medicare adjusted our income to reflect actual current income and reduced the fees to the minimum.
 
I've found my health insurance through this health insurance marketplace. They list many different plans, so I could compare and pick one that suited my needs and budget. In the past, I had an employer-provided plan, which was convenient but didn't offer the flexibility I wanted. The options at coveringcfl allowed me to figure out what would work best for me personally.
 
Papa Charlie said:
Well my company is forcing me to take retirement earlier than I had planned, about a year. I am concerned about the Medicare, I am 65 but the wife who hasn't worked for 30 years is only 63. I assume that I will have to find some health care for her until she gets to 65. Anyone have any experience with this and can share some information?

Thanks
Patrick
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I have to source my Insurance for myself and my wife then the company pays for part of it and lets me run it through them to be on their cafateria plan for tax purposes. I go through the Insurance market place, there is a lot to weed through but its okay. Unfortunately the ACA screwed up all of the normal avenues which use to exist.
 
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