Decisions, decisions…

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I’m sure that everyone has many decisions to make once they have pulled the trigger and decided to retire. For me, the toughest decision I’ve had to make so far is health insurance. Hands down. My situation, though not the norm for everyone, may be similar to what many people have to navigate so I thought I would share. A little background information may be helpful, so here goes…

As I mentioned in another post, my teacher retirement in Texas “trumps” my Social Security. Since teaching is my second career, I had paid into Social Security for more than enough years to qualify for Social Security, though the amount is relatively small (just under $1500 mo.). I am beyond the age for drawing my full SS but have still been working full time. Who knew I could apply for SS, receive my benefits, and still work at my full salary? Surely, I wasn’t the only one. Anyway, I applied for my SS benefits to begin in June of 2023. At the same time, I signed up for Medicare Part A (that is the no cost hospitalization insurance). I did not sign up for Part B, since I was still covered under my group plan through work. As long as one is covered under a group plan, there is no penalty for not signing up for Part B. However, there is a window of opportunity one must sign up for Part B once their group plan ends. Don’t miss that window, or you will have to pay a penalty that does not go away.

So, now back to my insurance dilemma now that I have officially retired. I am faced with a number of options from which I must determine what is best for me. I did decide to go ahead and keep my group plan through August since that was an option for me, even though my last day of work was the end of May. I did this to give myself some time to do more research and because my school district pays a large part of our monthly premium. Mike and I sat down for two hours one evening to research various options. I will share what we found.

1) Medicare Part B costs the insured $170 per month and covers 80% of most outpatient and doctor expenses after deductible. You have a 6 month window of opportunity once you are no longer covered by a group health plan to apply in order to avoid a penalty.

2) One may purchase a supplemental insurance that will cover what Medicare Part B does not cover.

3) One may opt for a Medicare Advantage Plan that may vary greatly from one carrier to the next. Some plans are in addition to the $170 Part B costs (meaning you pay the Medicare Part B on your own and then an additional price for the Advantage policy) and some include the $170 for Part B in their monthly premiums. There are numerous Advantage Plans, and they are not all alike, nor do they cost the same, so research which may be best for you if you go this route.

4) Medicare Part B rarely covers any expenses incurred outside the United States.

Oh my…decisions, decisions. Ultimately, I have chosen to go with an option I have through Texas Teacher Retirement System which is the TRS Advantage Plan. There were a number of factors that led me to choose this option. First and foremost is that I like the idea of having more comprehensive coverage than Medicare Part B alone offers. The cost of Medicare Part B is not included in my TRS premium ($130 mo.). Second, and a big consideration for me is that it will cover expenses incurred outside the United States. This was important for me, because we do plan to spend a lot of our time in Panama and plan to travel to other countries as well. Another factor is that I have found TRS to be trustworthy in providing good options for Texas teacher retirees.

Honestly, I have a difficult time thinking about insurance because luckily, Mike and I are both healthy (knock on wood) and have not incurred medical expenses in a number of years. We take no medications and have only been to the doctor for our yearly wellness checkups, so the idea of actually having medical expenses is almost foreign to both of us. However, we are both starting to realize that our bodies are not what they used to be, and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before our retirement insurance options will be put to the test. Here’s hoping I made a good choice. I would love to hear about anyone else’s experiences with these types of decisions.


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