Bridge to Retirement and Severance

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Anonymous said:
Forget the bridge to nowhere. Work till you drop. Obamacare is better anyway.
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Savor the free time you get....
The end of the line ain't pretty!

As someone who got screwed out of the bridge by inches.... I will tell you flat out you are very wrong.

The rates for Obamacare (with crappy doctors and half ass coverage) is about 500-700 a month premium for one person, close to or more than 1K for a couple. Now add a 6600 deductible per year for each.

Family plan is higher and worse on deductible.....

Basically Obamacare means pay big each month, then pay out upon use until you hit the deductible.

Lousy deal is the word!
 








Anonymous said:
Savor the free time you get....
The end of the line ain't pretty!

As someone who got screwed out of the bridge by inches.... I will tell you flat out you are very wrong.

The rates for Obamacare (with crappy doctors and half ass coverage) is about 500-700 a month premium for one person, close to or more than 1K for a couple. Now add a 6600 deductible per year for each.

Family plan is higher and worse on deductible.....

Basically Obamacare means pay big each month, then pay out upon use until you hit the deductible.

Lousy deal is the word!
Click to expand...
Merck 80/20 not much different with high deductibles.
 




I am a "bridged" person was let go at 18 and 3/4 years.

for medical and dental the first 12 months were at the employee rate for family coverage, after 12 months I am at the retire rate for family at $700/month medical and $100/month dental. (this does not include out of pocket expenses from the deductibles and anything over the "reasonable and customary" limits set by the plan.

When I called the retiree help line I was told that my tentative payment was to be around 550/month for medical/dental combined (as typical they lied and I am paying $800/month)

Life insurance was 12 months paid 1X salary and you foot the bill for any additional coverage. After 12 months you can "purchase" the 1X salary life insurance, again the rate was about 4 times what a typical 30 year term life insurance policy you can get from an insurance broker.

Cant touch my pension till I reach age 55 and from what I see it really isn't that much. I am going to take the lump sum and be rid of anything to do with this company as soon as I can.

Moved all my 401K money to my money management company and got rid of the invisible fees fidelity charges, (it comes to about 2.5% of your portfolio) and I am now earning a higher yield than I could in any fidelity plan as well as only being charged 1%.

Hope I don't jinks myself but my personal rate of return is now around 12% instead of the 2 or 3% i was getting with Merck-Fidelity managing my 401K money.

The bottom line is that the "bridged" benefit really isn't that great! and you can do better by looking outside for medical/dental and financial rates!
 




You will not beat $800 a month for an "entire family" anywhere.

Singles on the open market with the best Obamaplan pay about 700 plus for one...family rate is much higher.

Solution: get a job with insurance.
 




Anonymous said:
You will not beat $800 a month for an "entire family" anywhere.

Singles on the open market with the best Obamaplan pay about 700 plus for one...family rate is much higher.

Solution: get a job with insurance.
Click to expand...

Left in 2013, bridged to retirement after 26 years. For first 18 months medical and dental was at employee rate. Now it will be $400 per person monthly, no dental coverage. I checked Obamacare for the similar coverage and it will be double for me and spouse. I consider Merck's retirement coverage good deal. On the top of that freedom and quality of life that I gained is priceless.
 












I'd like to know what they'll do for the older employees who were cheated out their retirement bridge by minuscule amounts of time. What an enormous black mark on this company. Its incredible that employees would be treated with such disrespect.

Anyone hearing about this agrees there should be a blanket bridge for anyone 60 or over with at least 5 years or more. People 60 with close to 10 years were denied the bridge yet they face the greatest difficulties finding new employment. What an embarrassment. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if someone starts a class action.
 




Got "bridged" at barely turning 49 years of age. Am now single. My GREAT Merck Healthcare is $378/month with barely out of pocket for anything. I shopped this on Obmacare and to match what I have with Merck Bridge=== It was almost double (with no qualifications for any subsidy ). I can and HAVE opted in and out of this plan since I was "grandfathered" by having 15 years with Merck by the 2011 deadline. As much as I hate being thrown out as a great rep/employee=== I am thankful mother Merck has allowed this. I am allowed to get in and out of this plan if I have a "Life Event" such as getting and leaving another job. I thought Obama's plan was going to be a much cheaper option but it was a joke. I am so sorry for those who got downsized just on the edge of getting Bridged by Merck. I thank my stars for aligning at my age to get this nice benefit. Hang tough your downsized Merckies. I feel for you. Oh--- I do not get dental or vision. Just basic healthcare now.
 




Anonymous said:
I'd like to know what they'll do for the older employees who were cheated out their retirement bridge by minuscule amounts of time. What an enormous black mark on this company. Its incredible that employees would be treated with such disrespect.

Anyone hearing about this agrees there should be a blanket bridge for anyone 60 or over with at least 5 years or more. People 60 with close to 10 years were denied the bridge yet they face the greatest difficulties finding new employment. What an embarrassment. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if someone starts a class action.
Click to expand...

Old Man, You cheated yourself by coasting and slacking until you were weeded out
Now you Cry and Cry and Cry to a bunch of other Nitwits on here
Younger reps who are hungry and more motivated to sell took your job
They are doing it way better than you did pops
 




Anonymous said:
Got "bridged" at barely turning 49 years of age. Am now single. My GREAT Merck Healthcare is $378/month with barely out of pocket for anything. I shopped this on Obmacare and to match what I have with Merck Bridge=== It was almost double (with no qualifications for any subsidy ). I can and HAVE opted in and out of this plan since I was "grandfathered" by having 15 years with Merck by the 2011 deadline. As much as I hate being thrown out as a great rep/employee=== I am thankful mother Merck has allowed this. I am allowed to get in and out of this plan if I have a "Life Event" such as getting and leaving another job. I thought Obama's plan was going to be a much cheaper option but it was a joke. I am so sorry for those who got downsized just on the edge of getting Bridged by Merck. I thank my stars for aligning at my age to get this nice benefit. Hang tough your downsized Merckies. I feel for you. Oh--- I do not get dental or vision. Just basic healthcare now.
Click to expand...

Mind blowing to read this post. A 49 year old with 18 years from retirement is bridged while those in their 60s and few years from normal retirement is denied? Who is Merck kidding with its cost saving arguments. The cost of bridging someone in their 40s or 50s is many times over the cost of an older employee with less than 6 years from normal retirement.
 




If someone is in their 60's and less than 10 years of service, they would get their bridge from their former employer. The current bridge age is 52 with 10 years of service. Most in the later category have been tortured way longer and already wasted the best years at Merck.

It won't matter anyway since Merck will eventually push all retirees to Obamacare!
 




There was no 2011 medical bridge cutoff. That will most likely be after 2019 (per HR).

Current bridge is the following:

Pension = age 50 and 10 years of service after age 40.

Medical = age 52 and 10 years of service after age 40.

At the rate of firings, most of us will not make it anyway.
 




Anonymous said:
If someone is in their 60's and less than 10 years of service, they would get their bridge from their former employer. The current bridge age is 52 with 10 years of service. Most in the later category have been tortured way longer and already wasted the best years at Merck.

It won't matter anyway since Merck will eventually push all retirees to Obamacare!
Click to expand...

As someone in their 60's I was not bridged and by a matter of weeks. Had fully expected to receive the bridge but was denied. The poster is 100% correct. This is going on. As for telling former employees to get their pension elsewhere this is absurd. Such a comment is a smoke screen and an excuse to divert attention away from Merck's responsibility to act according to highest of ethical standards. Most people do not have other employer pensions. If they're older they depend on receiving these benefits. This is especially true in today's difficult hiring environment. The fact that someone is over age 60, unexpectedly displaced then denied bridging by a mere fraction of time raises legal red flags. Employment attorneys know this as should all HR professionals. Its a blemish on Merck's reputation and casts a shadow over HR.
 




Hard to believe anyone missed it by weeks. I would have opted to decline severance and filed lawsuit for age discrimination. Only an idiot would take a small severance and pass up the big bucks!
 








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