Health Care Options for Retiring at 62?

[luvs2sing]

8. My experience..

I was on Hubster’s insurance. He planned to work till age 70 (early 2023) to get full social security benefits. I would have been 65 by then. As it turned out, he got laid off in October 2020, when I just turned 63. Because of the pandemic, his company gave him seven months severance and eighteen months COBRA for me at a reduced rate. It was a sweet deal, and instead of looking for another position in the company, which they wanted him to do, he decided to retire at almost 67 and immediately got on Medicare. His severance made it possible for us to easily make the COBRA payments, but that only lasted till April 2022, and I didn’t turn 65 for another six months.

We went on the healthcare.gov site and got a ballpark of how much premiums would be. No one called us or sent us anything. A year ago, I signed up for insurance through the ACA. It was pretty easy, and where we had difficulties, it was easy to call and get help. My biggest complaint was the lack of choices of policies. I really only had one choice for the health network I belong to, and it only covered the specialists I see, but not my primary care doc. The other two policies offered in my area were with another health network, and I would have had to get all new docs. So much for getting to keep your doctor, eh?

I was really worried what would happen if I needed to see my PCP, but I didn’t need to. Instead, a month after my insurance started, I fractured my shoulder and detached my bicep and had to have surgery to put me together again. I’m still in physical therapy, seven months later. Luckily, that “crappy” insurance was there because once this is over, my bill would have been over $100k without it. Right now, I’m looking at less than $5k for everything.

In October, I turned 65 and started Medicare. Hubster and I worked with a guy several friends recommended to get the best plans. My other insurance was quickly cancelled with a call to healthcare.gov 30 days before I started on Medicare. All in all, this was a very good experience.