Do level 3 non-bargained get medical retiree benefits
A. regardless of hire date?
B. regardless of discontinuations for level 2, level 1 retirees?
12 replies (most recent on top)
You can pay for health benefits. It's expensive. Depending on your income and state you may be able to do better in a healthcare market place.
"Did they not discontinue all retiree health benefits for anyone retired after Dec 31, 2021? or 2022. And that United Healthcare plan mentions above is for Medicare aged persons. Pretty sure they have to offer some COBRA plans for 3 years at full cost."
I wrote the original reply about the ATT UnitedHealth Care Medicare Advantage Plan. You are absolutely correct; it is only for Medicare eligible and only for people who have reached MR75.
And I don't trust AT&T nor United Health Care. Who knows how long the plan will even be available
The one thing to research is, if AT&T ends the plan, can you get Medigap without underwriting? I believe you can. Then the next issue is, how is Medigap priced, issue age, attained age, or community rated. If the Medigap is issue age, then you might need to get it sooner. But, if the pricing is attained age, you could roll the dice on AT&T's ppo. All Medigap are state regulated.
https://www.medicare.gov/publications/02110-medigap-guide-health-insurance.pdf
I don’t think anyone L5 or below who did not retire before Jan 1, 2022 are eligible for subsidized medical insurance. Anyone above that are officers in the company so it is up to their contracts they have to sign with the company.
Did they not discontinue all retiree health benefits for anyone retired after Dec 31, 2021? or 2022. And that United Healthcare plan mentions above is for Medicare aged persons. Pretty sure they have to offer some COBRA plans for 3 years at full cost.
There is retiree health care here. https://retiree.uhc.com/att
It may be worth it if you are a high user of medical services because of the low out of pocket maximum. But to bolt on dental, an extra $600.
So I opted out for 2024 in reliance on what is stated on this page.
https://retiree.uhc.com/att/enrollment-information
Reminder! These are the only AT&T-sponsored plan options for 2024, and by declining coverage you may not be able to enroll in AT&T-sponsored coverage until the next annual enrollment period.
So, it's not now or never. If things change and it looks like I might have an out-of-pocket issue later on, I can take it up for plan year 2025. I like having the plan in reserve, but AT&T isn't offering anything of value to me for plan year 2024. I can do better with a different AARP UHC MA plan.
There actually is a retiree health plan available to management employees who reach MR75. It's a United Health Care Medicare Advantage plan for ATT retirees. There are a couple of different flavors, depending upon if you are "subsidized" or not. I believe the subsidized employees get the plan at 0 premium, and the non-subsidized employees get it at a fairly small premium. There is a maximum 900 dollars out of pocket and it's a PPO so you can go out of network to any provider who accepts Medicare and also accepts the plan.
A person's level is not a criterion for qualifying for the plan, but the retiree must have reached MR75. The plan also covers spouses.
I looked into this to determine if it was worth staying on a few months next year to reach MR75. Even if you get laid off a few months before MR75- there is no grace period (I checked). I decided against sticking around for this plan, since this Medicare Advantage plan, like all MA plans, puts the insurance company in charge of weather or not your service is covered, and many services require pre-authorization. And I don't trust AT&T nor United Health Care. Who knows how long the plan will even be available, and the fine print suggests that the terms and conditions can change at any time.
Maybe there are other special things available for L3+. I am an L2 so my knowledge of what is available to the L3+ is limited.
Level 3, well you are not high enough in the management structure to be immune to the consequences of repeated bad decisions by "leadership". That was a mouthful, but it sums it up. If you didn't retire before 12-31-2021, you get nothing in retirement health benefits. Think of Luci snatching the football from Charlie Brown. You thought you had a chance but Luci (Stankey) snatched it away.
Stankey appreciates your sacrifice.
He** no and no.
Level 3 here, no retiree medical benefits.
I certainly hope you don't. --- L2 who is sick and tired of.being sh-t upon by the company.
I was surplus'd in the early 2019 wave, as a level 2 mgr employee (not of people). As far as I read and interpreted the news later on, it sounded to me that definitely anyone (management employees) not leaving after December 2021, was not eligible for retiree healthcare benefits. Which was sad to hear. That was the only thing of value for being MR-75, I don't even know why that designation even matters at all any more. Of course, I have no idea if level 3 or higher had any different set of conditions...