Insurance retirees

[Anonymous]

Dropping old fogeys to the state health insurance exchange like everyone else. http://www.newsmax.com/t#pageArticle

Has it ever occurred to you that us "old fogies" may have enough money to purchase our own private insurance. OF COURSE NOT...your generation never considered saving money so you can take care of yourself someday. YOUR needs are always someone else's responsibility.

 

[Anonymous]

Has it ever occurred to you that us "old fogies" may have enough money to purchase our own private insurance. OF COURSE NOT...your generation never considered saving money so you can take care of yourself someday. YOUR needs are always someone else's responsibility.

So why is my social Security and Medicare withholdings going up to pay for all you self-consing beneficiary recipients like a bunch of Medicaid sucking off the system then? You can return your check to the US Treasury, dickwad. You turncoats take 3 times in benefits what you paid in.

 

[Anonymous]

Has it ever occurred to you that us "old fogies" may have enough money to purchase our own private insurance. OF COURSE NOT...your generation never considered saving money so you can take care of yourself someday. YOUR needs are always someone else's responsibility.

So why is my social Security and Medicare withholdings going up to pay for all you greedy, self-consuming beneficiary recipients like a bunch of Medicaid sucking off the system then? You can return your check to the US Treasury, dickwad. You turncoats take 3 times in benefits what you paid in and vote yourself benefits on the backs of the young hourly worker who can't find full-time work because Fortune 500 companies have to pay for a lunch of lazy boy asses.

 

[Anonymous]

So why is my social Security and Medicare withholdings going up to pay for all you greedy, self-consuming beneficiary recipients like a bunch of Medicaid sucking off the system then? You can return your check to the US Treasury, dickwad. You turncoats take 3 times in benefits what you paid in and vote yourself benefits on the backs of the young hourly worker who can't find full-time work because Fortune 500 companies have to pay for a lunch of lazy boy asses.

Quit your complaining and get out and work. I need you paying into this system so I can receive my benefits that is due me. I look forward to getting my check every month and presenting my Medicare card whenever I visit my doctor. Its reassuring to know that some young worker is out there making all these benefits available to me.

 

[Anonymous]

From the Motley Fool website............

Many businesses are looking hard at their retiree benefits program and some are choosing to drop coverage on their retirees in order to cut future costs which are tied to the PPACA, also known as Obamacare. IBM is one such company that made this decision, notifying its retirees last week that it would send its Medicare-eligible retirees an annual payment that they could then use to shop for individual health insurance on state-run health exchanges. According to an IBM spokesperson, the move will affect about 110,000 retirees and is being necessitated because costs for these retirees are forecast to triple between now and 2020.
IBM isn't alone, though.

This weekend, we also heard that Time Warner plans to do the same thing with its retirees, which a spokesperson for the company confirmed on Sunday. Like IBM, Time Warner is facing rising costs for Medicare-eligible retirees and would rather give them money to seek out their own individual plan than keep them on the company's current retiree-benefits plan.

According to a research study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, roughly 29% of businesses with 5,000 or more employees are considering a change to their retiree health benefits platform. If you take a recent survey of 540 businesses from employee benefits consulting firm Aon Hewitt into question, you'll see an even broader outlook, which points to 60% of all businesses either implementing or considering the implementation of retiree benefit changes similar to what we saw from IBM and Time Warner.

But, here's the crazy thing... this is great news for all parties involved. Sure, being kicked to the curb as a retiree doesn't exactly inspire any moral support after the years or decades or work you likely put into that company, but for both parties it's going to work out for the best.

Let's look at this from a retirees' point of view. Under the current system they receive a very rigid plan, or a small handful of plans, to choose from with the company covering their health plan costs. Under the new system, businesses like IBM will prepay their retirees a lump sum of money that they can use to personalize their plan to better suit their needs. Moreover, the health care plans under Obamacare are considerably beefier than they have been in the past, offering more comprehensive coverage. With better transparency and potentially equal or more comprehensive coverage, retirees may actually wind up better off than where they are now.

From the standpoint of the businesses involved this move is a no-brainer. With health costs for retirees rising, jettisoning retirees onto the individual health exchanges could free up millions for some of the nation's largest employers which, in turn, can be used for job creation, research and development, or even a bigger dividend check to investors.

Another underlying winner here would be Medicare Advantage providers like Humana, UnitedHealth Group and Universal American. Medicare Advantage plans are supplemental health insurance plans that seniors buy to fill the gap in insurance for what Medicare doesn't cover. With many retirees now being displaced from their company-run plans, the aforementioned companies above -- which receive about two-thirds, one-quarter, and three-quarters of their revenue, respectively, from Medicare Advantage plans -- could be big beneficiaries.

Sometimes the effects of Obamacare on our nation's workforce, or retirees in this case, isn't subtle, but this is one scenario where it appears it's going to work out well for retirees, for corporate America, and for a select group of insurers.

 

[Anonymous]

Nothing IBM has done to it's retirees (future and present) has been in the best interest of the retiree - and the line about freeing up the money for job creation is a laugh - most new jobs being created at IBM are offshore. Over 70% of all IBM jobs currently are outside of the US. Gotta keep the stock price up and the executives well paid. Corporate America.

 

[Anonymous]

Nothing IBM has done to it's retirees (future and present) has been in the best interest of the retiree - and the line about freeing up the money for job creation is a laugh - most new jobs being created at IBM are offshore. Over 70% of all IBM jobs currently are outside of the US. Gotta keep the stock price up and the executives well paid. Corporate America.

That's the American way - the rich always get richer.

Interestingly I know a number of Pfizer retirees who have dumped their Pfizer retiree healthcare and gone with Blue Cross Blue Shield - better coverage at a cheaper price......

 

[Anonymous]

Here's how retirement in the US is going to work out:

The Greatest (a.k.a. The Greediest) Generation

- retired exactly when they wanted to
- generous defined pensions (up to 80% of salary)
- cheap retiree healthcare coverage ($100 a month or less)
- medicare coverage (for which they've only paid for one-third of)
- generous social security (that they may not have paid for)
- many tax breaks
= a very comfortable retirement

Baby Boomer Generation

- retire earlier than wanted to due to age-related layoff
- still some defined pensions (only up to 40% of salary)
- expensive retiree healthcare coverage ($500 a month or more for less coverage)
- less medicare coverage (for which they've paid and paid and paid)
- delayed social security
- few tax breaks
= a retirement but not a comfortable one

Millennial Generation

- may never get to retire
- no defined pensions
- no retiree healthcare coverage
- much less medicare coverage if the Republicans ever get back in power
- further delayed social security
- no tax breaks
= no real retirement or one on the poverty line

Yep, that's what we have to look forward to.

 

[Anonymous]

Quit your complaining and get out and work. I need you paying into this system so I can receive my benefits that is due me. I look forward to getting my check every month and presenting my Medicare card whenever I visit my doctor. Its reassuring to know that some young worker is out there making all these benefits available to me.

Welfare recipient. Medicare, Medicaid all the same mindset.

 

[Anonymous]

Not for this baby boomer with a big pharma company. My pension is 75% of my salary, health exchanges will work in my favor, I will still enjoy my tax breaks, and will take ss at 66 for more$ and I can still work a few more years if I like. I can live on my pension and not take out my 401K until 70 .

 

[Anonymous]

Not for this baby boomer with a big pharma company. My pension is 75% of my salary, health exchanges will work in my favor, I will still enjoy my tax breaks, and will take ss at 66 for more$ and I can still work a few more years if I like. I can live on my pension and not take out my 401K until 70 .

Wow! That's a lot of mulla for adult diapers and shuffleboard sticks.

 

[Anonymous]

So why is my social Security and Medicare withholdings going up to pay for all you self-consing beneficiary recipients like a bunch of Medicaid sucking off the system then? You can return your check to the US Treasury, dickwad. You turncoats take 3 ctimes in benefits what you paid in.

Can anyone understand what this airhead is trying to say? "self-consing'??????

 

[Anonymous]

Can anyone understand what this airhead is trying to say? "self-consing'??????

Huh, what? I can't hear you? Speak louder into my hearing aide, would you?

 

[Anonymous]

My baby boomer friends and myself are happy and still working in our early 60 's. Houses are paid for, kids are educated (and all professional). Pension will be very fine, 401k quite abundant. Looking forward to time for myself, school, travel, volunteer, etc. Retirement will be very good for us.

 

[Anonymous]

What is Pfizer going to do with retiree health insurance? Any guesses?

If you look at corporate trends in providing benefits to retires and the changes Pfizer has made in the past 5 years the answer should be obvious.

 

[Anonymous]

Glad I can leave whenever I want and not have to worry about it.

 

[Anonymous]

My baby boomer friends and myself are happy and still working in our early 60 's. Houses are paid for, kids are educated (and all professional). Pension will be very fine, 401k quite abundant. Looking forward to time for myself, school, travel, volunteer, etc. Retirement will be very good for us.

Of course, you might drop dead the day after you retire.

 

[Anonymous]

Of course, you might drop dead the day after you retire.

Amazing reasoning, dumbs

 

[Anonymous]

*dumbass

 

[Anonymous]

Pfizer is a mess today because of liberal ass-holes like you.

Liberals are history. The 1 percent has captured 95 percent of all income gains since the recession ended and we are going for MORE, MORE, MORE. Greed is good - always!!!!