A lot of the old hands always talked about how important that supplemental retiree medical coverage from EM is. I’ve also heard the premiums have gone up significantly in recent years, so is this statement still true?
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Google COBRA.
They can stop subsidizing but they can't kick you off.
NFS here: When you are an employee the company heavily subsidizes the insurance premium. When you retire the subsidy decreases but you still have the same plan and as many posters have commented, including myself, it is much less expensive than going to an infividual/commercial plan. Retiree health care is a great benefit, I hope XOM maintains it, as it is saving me and my wife about $29k per year,
but it is doubtful they will given that less 8% of private companies have this benefit today.
Retired 2-1-21 at 62. As a retiree I have exactly the same Aetna Plan that I had while an active employee, with double the premium. At double it is still significantly lower than purchasing a similar plan on the open market. My wife is 65. She is on Medicare with the ExxonMobil Medicare Supplement. The supplement cost is marginally less than similar supplemental plans on the open market.
@gmi+1bhSHPww the premiums increase upon retirement because the company-paid portion is dropped significantly, the benefit seems to be mainly around ACCESS to the plan, rather than the plan being partially paid for you by the company
@nfs+1bhSHPww You seem to know allot. Please tell us If it’s the same policy then why do premiums increase at precisely the same time we retire. Inquiring minds would love to know.
Fairfax retiree, my medical rates keep climbing. Getting close to be more economical to buy insurance vs EM premiums.
The poster is wrong about medications in retirement and about two different policies. Same exact policy for medical, dental, pescriptions, etc. And unlike Obama you get to keep your same doctors as you had as an employee just not as heavily subsidized by XOM. Also remember COBRA is the exact same Group insurance policy that you had as an employee just not subsidized at all by XOM. However, once your COBRA runs our or if XOM takes away retiree medical (which they are going to as only 8% of current companies in the USA offer retirement medical, as us true with pensions) then you are on your own in the individual medical insurance market and that is a whole different ball game and is very, very expensive and you will never achieve the same benefits as a group insurance policy. Retiree medical could be worth $15k to $30k per year depending upon your particular situation and your tolerance for individual and family annual deductibles and whether or not you want to keep your same doctor. Do your research please and God Bless, these are troubling times.
Here was my retiree experience. Retiree medical is the exact same medical, dental policy I had as an employee which was Aetna PPO and it covers you and your spouse until age 65 at which point in the USA you go on Medicare. As an employee I paid ~$300/month, when I retired paid ~$600/month for the exact same coverage. Out of curiosity, I priced this same coverage in the individual medical insurance open market and the price range I got was from $2000 to $2500/month and I was never able to achieve the same individual and annual deductibles that Aetna provided as they as much, much higher in this market.
I'm surprised Exxon hasn't decided to axe this benefit yet
good enough to give me a constant supply of adult diapers! BOOMERS UNITE!
Yet another slight of hand. What they do is have 2 policies. One for active workers and one for retired workers. The premium jumps way up after you leave because your in a pile with folks that are older and use the insurance more. In addition, there have been times when paying cash for your meds is actually cheaper than even involving your insurance. You tell me if it’s jacked up.
In the US, the Aetna program is good, but quite expensive.
I've compared to the COBRA rates for Aetna POS II B - and is approximately 30% less expensive than COBRA. I don't know if this is a deterioration of the company benefit from the past.
I suspect it has been downgraded over past few years.
Good policy at a high price in my opinion.
There is also a Retiree coverage adding to Medicare, which I'll be looking into.
At least it is something.
I'm lump-summing Pension and taking 401K to an external IRA soon as possible.
In short, the farthest away from 'depending on Auntie EM' as possible.
Taking the Late Stage Retirement planning course (if still offered) is probably a 2-hour Zoom at this point.