Fulltiming Health Insurance

[monarchman53]

We are a ways away from being able to consider full timing, mostly for financial reasons. One of the things I wonder about is being able to afford health insurance once I quit working. The company I work for HEAVILY subsidizes what I pay for it. Once I retire, I can keep the insurance, but my monthly bill for it will go up about 400 to 500%. My question is, what do some of you who are retired and live fulltime on the road do for health insurance? Is there something out there I haven't thought of that is more affordable?
Rod

[paz]

We were blessed that my company continues its subsidy until both my wife and I reach 65. Most companies don't do that.

If you're in relatively good health, one option is to go only with catastrophic coverage until you are old enough for Medicare. That type of coverage is generally a lot less expensive than the type of insurance most people have from their employer.

With catastrophic coverage, you will have to pay for things like office visits, prescriptions, most lab tests, etc. out of your own pocket. The insurance will only kick in for expensive procedures and hospital stays.

The only catch is as full-timers, you will need a plan that is accepted nationwide.

You may have been able to pay for some of the out-of-pocket expenses with a Medical Savings Account (MSA), but from what I understand, the new health care law will eliminate MSAs. That would have at least allowed you to pay out-of-pocket expenses with before-tax dollars.

Another consideration for full-timers is the state you choose as a domicile. TX, SD and FL are three popular states because they don't have state income tax. However, Blue Cross-Blue Shield of SD will not write health insurance policies for full-timers (they know who the mail forwarders are, so they know who the full-timers are by our addresses), so SD probably won't be a good choice for you, at least until you are eligible for Medicare.

I'm sure there are other options. I hope others weigh in on this question.

[Clay L]

I think BC/BS has that policy in a lot of states. I know they do in NH.

However if you keep your company insurance plan that may not be a problem because the requirements to have an actual residence and having to be in the state for more than six months each year are not usually part of company plans. So I have been told by several other full timers.

Our legal domicile is SD and we used Assurant Health. We had a $5000 deductible and our cost was about $1600 per month.
I would check and see if you can keep the company policy but have a much higher deductible. That might reduce the cost.

[monarchman53]

Thanks paz, There is a lot to think about on the subject and I'm not sure there are any easy affordable solutions. My company plan will jump to around $650 a month and I'm not sure if we'll be able to afford that.
Clay, I'm assuming you didn't stay with the Assurant plan at $1600 because you said "had", what did you switch to?
Rod

[Clay L]

Rod,
We stayed with Assurant until we got old enough for Medicare.

It was a lot of money to us as our investment income wasn't enough to cover it so we had to take money out of our investment accounts for several years.