Thread regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

If Chevron retirement medical plan does not cover one outside of home country, then it is really is just a fairly expensive Medicare advantage plan.

Absolutely do your homework because Chevron's new "drop and your out" rule on Retiree Medical is an important decision to make. For me and my spouse, getting into the Chevron Retiree PPO right now at 59 is way too expensive. If I had medical issues, maybe I would consider it, but because we are both healthy, our plan is to postpone enrollment until I am 65. Once the Medicare Advantage kicks in, the plan premiums for Chevron Retiree Medical come way down. Keep in mind that Chevron states their Retiree Medical coverage is not guaranteed, it can be changed or eliminated at the end of any one year. I tend to think it won't go away. Post-65 company contribution costs are affordable to Chevron and keeping it only promotes goodwill with all their current employees who will become retirees someday.

2nsav: Thanks for the reply. I will have to investigate more before I make any moves. Health care is an issue for me with Chevron's new drop and your out rule and Obama care being potentially unstable (due to exchange collapse or republican modifications). It's not the money, I make enough that I would not qualify for subsidies, it is worry about getting access to a reasonable plan should I get sick down the road. I am healthy enough now to travel and live overseas in retirement but want to secure access to health care in the future.

2nuwr: You must be joking. Just remember one word - "Domicile". You domicile or residence in the United States will determine if you can get medical insurance coverage. I read about the subject of domicile before I retired years ago because I was considering retiring in Costa Rica. I read that becoming a resident in another State, closest to your foreign destination before relocating abroad is highly suggested. You can also open a US Post Office Box and change your residence address to that first. There are companies that provide a service of receiving your mail and forwarding only the important correspondence. Either way one decides to go in retirement, always think of domicile or establishing a new one before going to live somewhere else outside the US. When it comes to getting reliable medical insurance coverage through Chevron or another provider, thinking about where you establish domicile is a very important first move.

So let's say I retire tomorrow (age 55) and decide I wish to stick with the Chevron PPO med plan (which a guess I can since I have 15 yrs in and $15k sounds reasonable for my wife and I, particularly given I have some pre-existing "issues"). Now let's say I want to move out of state (like maybe Maine), or even out of the country (like to the hippy beach community in bongo bongo...or somewhere). Can I remain unrolled in Chevron's PPO insurance, co-paying for a Doc at the hospital in bongo bongo?

Don't count on Ibamacare being on its last leg, 24qbz. I doubt it very much. It might be called something else real soon and maybe a few different hoops to jump through, but in the end, we'll continue to have government subsidized healthcare and those who know how and are able to pretend to be poor will get the best shake, all on the backs of you working stiffs. Love it.

Sphincter-boy; Many online banks average 1.0 % or more for savings, and have for quite a few years now. 1.7MM is decent, but only in a low COL state (that many would not want to be in) and if everything is paid up(no debt). Chump change theses days...... just sayin.... (many have passed that in their 30's , AHEM)

Obammycare is on it's way out the door. The freebies for the pretend-poor parasites sponging off those honest, hard working people who actually contribute to society will end soon. Do catch up, dear.

NEXT

Here's the text from that other post that Mr. Sphincter got all puckered up about:

You missed the point entirely. The $250,000 is after-tax cash that was accumulated in bank savings accounts and CD's over many years. Of course it can be earning a lot more than the 0.5% interest banks pay, but the retiree already stated he/she has around $1.7MM invested in the market. The advantage to having the $250,000 free cash is no longer having to report it on the tax return as new income. The retiree only has to live off a small trickle of reportable income coming from retirement savings, and it's only that amount that gets reported on the annual tax return. Living this way, the retiree is able to rake up on the maximum Obamacare subsidies. The maximum subsidy for a couple reporting $27,150 is around $2,200. Annually, that's $26,400 in subsidies through Obamacare. That equates to about a 10.5% return on a $250,000 investment. Not bad at all. And to top it off, the retiree gets a medical insurance policy for under $80 a month. Do you now see why you missed the point entirely?

dxhl, refer to your nasty sphincter for any signs of a brain, dillweed. If you can't answer directly, no need to comment and use someone else's post like a maggot, simpleton. We can read. The question is if you can or not.

@dbri, refer to Post ID: @KoRx8YS-bwgw in another thread for your answer.

@6guo - What is the opportunity cost of removing funds from a 401K and putting them in a bank account collecting 0.5% interest? Living "income poor" to get subsidized ACA coverage seems to be a questionable financial choice. And then what happens when the ACA is overhauled and you can't get back on the CVX retiree medical plan?

-6hcj, The actual premium for post-65 Chevron Retiree Medical after the $96 contributed by the company is really still affordable. Once a retiree or active employee reaches 65, they are switched to mother insurance pool because Medicare kicks in at that age. Your Chevron Plan becomes something like a Medicare supplemental plan, so the premiums drop down a lot. Although the $96 contribution seems like a pittance compared to the amount the company contributes toward an active employee, it does reduce the post-65 retiree's premium to an affordable amount.

@6nbj, It seems you don't have many options. If your mortgage is paid off already or can manage that before the end of December and can get by on a $35-$40k budget until the Trump administration replaces Obamacare, try the following. If you left CVX when you were at least 55, you can withdraw money from from your 401k without the 10% penalty. Consider withdrawing enough money now, before the end of 2016 to put in the bank. Then, for one or two tax years, you can withdraw as little as possible from Vanguard each year to keep your taxable income low in order to get a high Obamacare subsidy starting in Jan 2017. The downside to doing this late in the year is all the federal taxes you'd have to pay. Your annual salary, the severance pay, unemployment benefit income, then a withdrawal from Vanguard. It may not be worth it. Your last option is to forego medical insurance for all of 2017 and hope the Trump administration replaces Obamacare with something better and affordable. At least by then, you could expect there won't be any penalties to pay if you choose not to have medical coverage for a few more years.

-3ddq I understand that Chevron's contribution is low for your Dad, but can he get better insurance outside of the CVX retiree plan for a comparable price to the full price? I mean, do they even have anything available on the open market at the price including what Chevron pays? That's the benefit of the retiree insurance. You get to stay with the system, within the entire Chevron/Employee/retiree pool and get their overall better rates and better insurance and cannot be excluded for pre-existing major conditions no matter what they are. Many older people with major health problems fall into that boat and having even expensive insurance of any kind not to mention decent, reliable coverage is a Godsend. Correct me if I am wrong. You have to remember, the ACA is very new in the big picture and is more or less still an experiment at this time. It will also be revamped soon, as we know because of it's problems and flaws. Some people made out like bandits and others were screwed and the Ins. companies won in every case. Think of what we had for years before Obamacare, the free market, American way and that's what you should compare to. CVX retiree insurance is really not bad at all if the prices were not escalated to indirectly subsidize ACA expenses. The false notion and idea that was sold to America that things could be made free or dirt cheap for many without doing a lot of damage is the root of the problem. It just can't be done without lowering healthcare provisions and availability for all. You cannot have the high-quality health care that Americans and Canadian-Americans who cross the border for their services have enjoyed for all these years had by changing it into socialized healthcare. That's just a simple fact.

Mls. Thanks for posting that premium info. I'm 55 and unlike a lot of posters will not be able to report an income below 80k before age 65 (bar one year). To other readers I can't use the tactics you do so don't go there. Suffice to say, in the long run there is no benefit to go off the cvx healthcare plan now, considering te new rules. I probably won't work again and my wife doesn't work either. ( if I do work it'll help cover the premiums anyway). We're in reasonably good health and have one healthy 22 yr old dependent. I had always planned to take the PPO option as I did as an employee. Now they offer the HDHP and HDHP basic option. I still need to do some homework on this but in parallel am interested on people's opinions on which plan to take in december. I'm leaning towards the HDHP but would be interEsted to know if any other poster have nuggets of info that could sway or support this while I dig into it deeper. Paying a 10k deductible is not an issue. Thanks posters for your opinions......

Oblamer-in-chief is not responsible either. He is never responsible for anything. But he will surely tell you who is!!

Healthcare costs today are obscenely high. Don't blame Chevron for having to change providers from United Healthcare to Anthem. Blame Obamacare for reducing competition, blame the healthcare industry for putting profits first, blame the greedy pharmaceutical companies for ever rising drug costs, blame the trial lawyers for never ending litigation against doctors and hospitals.

The monthly premiums for retirees listed below are accurate. But going from a United Health Care cadlilac plan to what appears to be a second tier plan with Anthem along with higher co-pays, lesser coverage etc. Is disappointing.

Although I appreciate it as they can drop it for employees and retirees at anytime.

Can you say hello Obamacare?

@3jqb - From the start Republicans wanted Obamacare to fail so they could make Obama look like a failure and prove that all government social programs are bad and that the free market can solve anything. They've been predicting prices would skyrocket, which they didn't until this year, and no one likes to be shown wrong. You're pretty naive if you think that Republicans overcame their partisanship and hoped that Obamacare would keep prices low for the good of the country. Don't you think that there are a lot of Democrats now who are hoping that the country goes to "hell in a hand basket" under Trump so they can feel they were right about him? It's human nature.

@3aqo - The notion that Obamacare has somehow led to a spike in health insurance rates is just wishful thinking on the part of Republicans. As usual, the facts don't back it up. In fact, up until this year, rates have been increasing at a lower rate than before ACA was enacted. See http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2015/06/30/health-insurance-premiums-are-rising-faster-than-income/#1361045411eb, for example, for a graph of rate increase rates from 2005 to 2015. Please get your facts straight (though I know you won't cause it's more fun to believe things that conform to your world view than to challenge your thinking).

@3aqo, I'm the person below who posted that Chevron's retiree medical plan contributed $96 per month. But, you misunderstood what I said. My Dad retired from Chevron 12 years ago, but the $96 contribution is for next year, 2017. Yes, it's a pittance of what active employees are getting. That's why HR is so hush-mouthed about disclosing that low amount. So much for the coveted 94 points to earn a 100% medical contribution. It's worthless.

Chevron froze their contribution several years ago but this may have changed.

-2poc, I'm afraid you're between a rock and a hard place with hardly an option. The advice about staying put until you're 65 sounds like the best option to me. But it would be interesting for someone to post the pre-65 retiree medical costs for Kaiser in the Bay Area.

nho here. 2rld - thanks for the advice! I'm still trying to figure out my options. Do you know how much the Kaiser Northern California retired premiums are? Thanks.

-nho in the Bay Area, do not retire unless you are 65 or over...

You would never believe how poor you are going to be in a couple of years. All your wealth is going to be burned in flames of USA collapse. Run to Canadians or Mexico ASAP

My father retired from Chevron in Houston about 12 years ago. He had over 34 years with the company when he retired. He shocked me when we talked in October during the Open Enrollment period about the amount Chevron was contributing toward his and my Mom's Chevron Medical Plan. It was only $96 per month. Granted, both my Mom and Dad are over 65 and the Chevron Plan practically becomes a Medicare Supplemental Plan. The point I'm making is the 100% Chevron Contribution for a retiree (pre-65 or post-65) is nothing near the amount Chevron contributes to their active employees. It shouldn't come as a surprise to many of you that the contribution is low, since how loud does HR advertise this information to you while you're working or getting set to retire? They don't talk about it. No sir, that's a little dark secret they like to keep tight-lipped about.

Thanks -mlu for the info. I did not receive any Open Enrollment paperwork but I did go onto the Chevron Health and Welfare site and check and sign up for my medical and dental plans. I received confirmation paperwork today showing the following for Houston ("Please note that the rates shown reflect non-subsidized COBRA premiums.")

Medical PPO You + Family $1,783.98

DeltaCare USA HMO You + Family $54.65

Monthly Company Contribution is listed as $0.00.

Using the rates above would suggest that my 94 points and 100% Medical Company Contribution will amount to $268.98 and $14.65 for medical and dental respectively? I thought the company contribution for retirees was greater?

So what are the Chevron retirement benefits worth then?

Are you serious, is that really the monthly premium for Chevron plan ? That's almost a mortgage payment for a family of 4

Thanks mlu for the information. I'm looking to retire next year, have enough years of service for 100% contribution. Can anyone in the Bay Area share what retiree costs are? Anyone have Kaiser? Thanks much.

OP, I am your age with a spouse and one child. I retired from Chevron in late 2015, so I received my Open Enrollment papers for 2017 in the mail last month. Following is the breakdown for the 2017 monthly costs by coverage level listed by Medical Plan in the Houston area and the monthly costs rounded to the closest Dollar for: (1) You Only, (2) You+One Adult, (3) You+Children or Other Dependents, (4) You+Family.

Medical HMO - HMO Blue TX (1) $1,150 --- (2) $2,298 --- (3) $1,595 --- (4) $2,745

Medical PPO Plan (1) $649 --- (2) $1,296 --- (3) $865 --- (4) $1,514

HDHP (1) $498 --- (2) $996 --- (3) $644 --- (4) $1,142

HDHP Basic (1) $466 --- (2) $933 --- (3) $600 --- (4) $1,067

The 2017 Dental Plans using the same monthly cost by coverage level are:

Delta Dental PPO (1) $37 --- (2) $74 --- (3) $63 --- (4) $99

Delta Dental HMO (1) $15 --- (2) $31 --- (3) $26 --- (4) $40