2015 Pfizer retiree medical plan

[Anonymous]

My wife and I are both enrolled in the Medicare Part B insurance by Manhattan Life Insurance Company, which is a one of the highest rated insurance companies. The premium for myself and my wife is $274.00 per month. Both are plan F, which pays for everything that is not covered by Medicare. Nothing period. I do purchase the Pfizer Rx Plan. There are no worries about any type of copay or deductibles. My comment about the RMS was just to point out that we all have an RMS. This helps to lower the cost of Pfizer's insurance program for you. What I find amazing is that after five years of retirement and with a long tenure with Pfizer, that my balance would be $0.00. I point this out because this RMS is not great if you look at my situation. I've had no major claims with Pfizer the past five years. In fact, I have not met my yearly deductible and thus United Health Care has not paid any eligible claims submitted to them. I was always enrolled in the Pfizer plan, until I opened my eyes and started looking around. There maybe exceptions but I found a better deal for our family with better coverage at a lower price. Don't be afraid to look around. If you're not satisfied with the private insurance you might buy, you can always get back into the Pfizer program if you show proof of insurance coverage when you go back to Pfizer should that happen.

Is that $274.00 per person per month or $274.00 for both you and your wife?

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Is that $274.00 per person per month or $274.00 for both you and your wife?

Thanks!

We pay $274.00 per month for both myself and my wife. Plan F, which is what we have covers ALL expenses does not pay. No copays or deductibles!

 

[Anonymous]

We pay $274.00 per month for both myself and my wife. Plan F, which is what we have covers ALL expenses does not pay. No copays or deductibles!

Thanks for your reply.

I have Plan F from AARP - $261.00 per month for each of us, for a total of $522.00.

I am going to look into your plan.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply.

I have Plan F from AARP - $261.00 per month for each of us, for a total of $522.00.

I am going to look into your plan.

Age is a major factor in the individual, open market premium pricing.
Pricing and plans offered are also dependent on location, right down to the county/state where you live.
These are some reasons that pricing is all over the board and causes so much confusion. Too many people are not giving these facts consideration.

 

[Anonymous]

Age is a major factor in the individual, open market premium pricing.
Pricing and plans offered are also dependent on location, right down to the county/state where you live.
These are some reasons that pricing is all over the board and causes so much confusion. Too many people are not giving these facts consideration.

You are correct about age and location That also applies to your Pfizer plan as well. The point I have been driving home is look around. Don't assume Pfizer is giving you the best plan. If you look at the copays and deductibles, Plan F is the superior plan on the open market. You'll find Plan F by many companies is the same or less that what Pfizer offers. Don't assume you can never go back to the Pfizer plan if you switch. You can as long as you provide proof you have insurance coverage. If I find that Pfizer has the better plan, I'll switch back. Please check what your RMS balance is on the information that was sent to you. You're going to be surprised in most cases. If Pfizer wants to provide a benefit, they can give you a stipend like GSK does to buy your insurance on the open market. But you have to remember, that's way too much for Pfizer to go for. Be Wise and look around before you make your choices.

 

[Anonymous]

With this latest round of lay offs, will there even be a Pfizer Retiree Insurance Plan? How can the company take care of the retirees pensions and insurance benefits when there will no employees. Somebody has to sell products.

If so many retirees are jumping away from the Pfizer insurance plan, will there be enough people participating and paying premiums to sustain the UHC plans? Will the whole program be operating in the red and collapse?

 

[Anonymous]

With this latest round of lay offs, will there even be a Pfizer Retiree Insurance Plan? How can the company take care of the retirees pensions and insurance benefits when there will no employees. Somebody has to sell products.

If so many retirees are jumping away from the Pfizer insurance plan, will there be enough people participating and paying premiums to sustain the UHC plans? Will the whole program be operating in the red and collapse?

You can tell that you are so old school.

In business, people are your biggest assets and biggest liabilities. The goal to maximizing profit today is to minimize the size of the workforce.

Your pension is supported and funded by profits, not expenditures. If one sales rep can bring in the revenue of two sales reps, the choice is to keep one and eliminate the other. If a robot can do it, you get rid of both.

You didn't have these issues back in your day but they are here now. We are at the beginning of the next wave.

 

[Anonymous]

I have really looked into this plan and compared it to the traditional Medicare, plus a supplemental plan plus an RX plan. It is very competitive. You may be able to piece plans together and save a few bucks, but this is all inclusive. In addition it includes a vision plan plus free membership to a health club thru SilverSneakers(Golds Gym, Snap fitness and others). Unfortunately, due to the current health care laws nothing is cheap anymore. In my case I am on Enbrel. No RX plan covers it. Minimum $9000 out of pocket(blows the donut hole right out of the water). For me, its free.

 

[Anonymous]

I have really looked into this plan and compared it to the traditional Medicare, plus a supplemental plan plus an RX plan. It is very competitive. You may be able to piece plans together and save a few bucks, but this is all inclusive. In addition it includes a vision plan plus free membership to a health club thru SilverSneakers(Golds Gym, Snap fitness and others). Unfortunately, due to the current health care laws nothing is cheap anymore. In my case I am on Enbrel. No RX plan covers it. Minimum $9000 out of pocket(blows the donut hole right out of the water). For me, its free.

You are correct about the drug coverages. Remember, Pfizer caps the monthly out of pocket cost for a drug. Not so with other advantage plans or original Medicare drug supplemental plans. There may be low to no co-pays on F plans, etc. but if a person needs any medications, the costs could be sky high. What if you're feeling fine today and next month have a serious illness and need very costly medications? Are people really thinking through the possibilities that older people may get sick?

 

[Anonymous]

You can tell that you are so old school.

In business, people are your biggest assets and biggest liabilities. The goal to maximizing profit today is to minimize the size of the workforce.

Your pension is supported and funded by profits, not expenditures. If one sales rep can bring in the revenue of two sales reps, the choice is to keep one and eliminate the other. If a robot can do it, you get rid of both.

You didn't have these issues back in your day but they are here now. We are at the beginning of the next wave.

Don't forget contract reps and non-personal selling (web/direct marketing, e-detailing, sample request via internet,etc). The non-personal selling aspect is always increasing due to access shutting down in many places. Nothing works as well as face to face...but it ain't easy anymore.

 

[Anonymous]

Warning to all Pfizer retiree folks" just when you find you need the medical plan the most Horizon Blue Cross Blue Sheild will shut you down. you fallow the rules, get all the prior authorizations then after the procedures are done, And the bills start coming in Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield decides the procedure is not medically nesseccery. So my advice all retirees stay away. From Horizon BC/BS. You have all been warned .

 

[Anonymous]

Warning to all Pfizer retiree folks" just when you find you need the medical plan the most Horizon Blue Cross Blue Sheild will shut you down. you fallow the rules, get all the prior authorizations then after the procedures are done, And the bills start coming in Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield decides the procedure is not medically nesseccery. So my advice all retirees stay away. From Horizon BC/BS. You have all been warned .

I hope United Healthcare Advantage will be better. I am not optimistic. But, I don't trust the open market plans much more. They are all about making money, not paying claims.

 

[Anonymous]

You are correct about the drug coverages. Remember, Pfizer caps the monthly out of pocket cost for a drug. Not so with other advantage plans or original Medicare drug supplemental plans. There may be low to no co-pays on F plans, etc. but if a person needs any medications, the costs could be sky high. What if you're feeling fine today and next month have a serious illness and need very costly medications? Are people really thinking through the possibilities that older people may get sick?

You do need separate RX coverage if you participate in a Medical Part B Supplement. In order to have RX benefits, one needs to purchase a Medicare Part D plan. The Pfizer RX plan is the way to go. As far as Part B, and a supplement, you can choose various plans at different prices. If you want everything covered that Medicare doesn't, purchase Plan F, there are no out of pocket expenses for you. Plan F is a far superior plan to the Pfizer Buy Up Plan. No deductibles, no copays, no pre authorizations. As far as Pfizer's contribution to the plan to help lower the cost of coverage for retirees, don't plan on t his very long. In fact, my RMS was $0 after five years of retirement. This after working for 38 years! As far as free membership in gyms and clubs, AARP offers free membership in several clubs and includes vision care as part of the Plan F option. I haven't checked about the coverage for Enbrel, but Medicare covers the cost for oncology drugs. I wouldn't count on Enbrel too much as Pfizer no longer promotes this product for Amgen and probably wont be covered too much long under our RX plan. The same is true for Spiriva. Pfizer' contract with BI will end by December.
It's your choice, choose wisely. Send a message to Pfizer that yes, it's a benefit. But with exceptions their plan may not be the best choice for us. When they put the retirees on Medicare especially instead of what they had previously offered, was the end to good insurance coverage for Pfizer.

 

[Anonymous]

I hope United Healthcare Advantage will be better. I am not optimistic. But, I don't trust the open market plans much more. They are all about making money, not paying claims.

Oh yeah! They're all the same but I do have UHC and so far so good.

 

[Anonymous]

I hope United Healthcare Advantage will be better. I am not optimistic. But, I don't trust the open market plans much more. They are all about making money, not paying claims.

Oh yeah! They're all the same but I do have UHC and so far so good.
Of course, have only used for routine stuff so far.

 

[Anonymous]

Horizon BC/BS is a scam on retirees. After fallowing the rules. Getting prior authorization after prior authorization. Then after the procedure is authorized and done with. Horizon decides that the procedure is "Not Medically Necessary ". So you get stuck with the total bill. My suggestion to you retirees stay away from Horizon BC/BS if at all possible. You have been warned.....

 

[Anonymous]

Horizon BC/BS is a scam on retirees. After fallowing the rules. Getting prior authorization after prior authorization. Then after the procedure is authorized and done with. Horizon decides that the procedure is "Not Medically Necessary ". So you get stuck with the total bill. My suggestion to you retirees stay away from Horizon BC/BS if at all possible. You have been warned.....

If you had opted for insurance on the open market, and chose Plan F, you wouldn't have that problem. You have until the 31st to make your choices. If you don't at least look around and see your choices, shame on you. Please don't be afraid to look around and make your choices wisely.

 

[Anonymous]

If you had opted for insurance on the open market, and chose Plan F, you wouldn't have that problem. You have until the 31st to make your choices. If you don't at least look around and see your choices, shame on you. Please don't be afraid to look around and make your choices wisely.

We shopped around: plan F, other advantage plans, etc. When we looked at actual out of pocket costs for premiums, adding in the Medicare deductions, actual drug costs, and so forth, the numbers were surprisingly close for all plans. And, remember, Pfizer is giving you a premium cost up front considering whatever health conditions you have. When you apply for the other plans, your health conditions may cause monthly premiums to be much higher when you actually enroll vs. sample prices listed in the web site(do you have arthritis, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure?).

 

[Anonymous]

Seriously! I wasn't complaining at all. There are simple questions of logistics. Currently my primary is Medicare, secondary Pfizer BC.BS. They're now saying ALL will be administered under one card (UHP). Last year we each carried 2 cards (Medicare & BCBS secondary)' What I've learned in the past is that you need to know about changes. For example, one year the plan was changed to where we had to get prior auth for ER visits. That's kind of an oxymoron since one generally doesn't know an ER visit is coming until it is upon you. My daughter had one such visit. While the description was somewhere in the 10 pages of small print, who (when an emergency arises) reads and studies 10 pages and every detail and especially who would think of pre-authorizing an ER visit? So it might be good for us to know what differences lurk. Also curious about will my SS Medicare deduction still continue if the Medicare is handled thru PFE UHP? Or will my Medicare premium be paid entirely thru PFE UHP?

Just had a rude awakening: I enrolled in the Medicare Advantage Uptake program and decided to contact each of the 4 doctors I see this morning. One is my primary care guy and I see him maybe 3X year. Another, I see every 6 months, 2, I see once a year. What 3 of 4 have told me is that they will NOT accept my UHC card for Medicare, I have to pay out of pocket each visit and then submit to UHC myself. At age 70, I'm pretty much done with filling out forms. As I look over my secondary payments last year, I see zero $ were paid out due to the high deductible. So essentially, I am being forced to change doctors if I stay and still must pay the co-pays. One of the doctor offices (plus a lady at HR Source) suggested I seriously consider just sticking with Medicare, taking the PFE prescription plan and absorbing the co-pays which I absorbed anyway last year due to the increased deductible.

I have 3 days to make up my mind. I seriously suggest you contact each of your doctors and ask, 'Will you accept a UHC Advantage card for my Medicare and secondary? If yes - coll, if not - get in touch with HR Siource sooner than later.

 

[Anonymous]

Just had a rude awakening: I enrolled in the Medicare Advantage Uptake program and decided to contact each of the 4 doctors I see this morning. One is my primary care guy and I see him maybe 3X year. Another, I see every 6 months, 2, I see once a year. What 3 of 4 have told me is that they will NOT accept my UHC card for Medicare, I have to pay out of pocket each visit and then submit to UHC myself. At age 70, I'm pretty much done with filling out forms. As I look over my secondary payments last year, I see zero $ were paid out due to the high deductible. So essentially, I am being forced to change doctors if I stay and still must pay the co-pays. One of the doctor offices (plus a lady at HR Source) suggested I seriously consider just sticking with Medicare, taking the PFE prescription plan and absorbing the co-pays which I absorbed anyway last year due to the increased deductible.

I have 3 days to make up my mind. I seriously suggest you contact each of your doctors and ask, 'Will you accept a UHC Advantage card for my Medicare and secondary? If yes - coll, if not - get in touch with HR Siource sooner than later.

Yeah, I'd listen to one of the HR source morons who read their scripts to us. I would do just the opposite of whatever they tell me to do. Check out AARP....or any other plan I guarantee it will be better than Pfizer's horizon crap.