Medicare 2

Eight months later and my answer is that there is age discrimination in ACA. Health insurance rates can not be discounted for Medicare eligibility. If your employer is willing, the best bet is to enroll in both. Use a low cost Medicare advantage plan to eliminate your deductibles and use your regular insurance to cover hospitalization and outpatient services.

Medicare enrollment

I am now registered for Parts A and B. My Medicare Exchange says they will help me find health insurance for my non-qualifying family. We will see.

ACA and age based premiums

My small organization recently received new health insurance rates beginning July 1. Our rates went up 29%. Health insurance for me and my family (before cost sharing) will cost $32,000 per year! Blue Cross tells me that this is because of the Affordable Health Care Act which requires that all small business plan premiums be exclusively age based. I turn 65 in October and am planning on enrolling in Part B Medicare. I will then have my wife purchase individual plans for herself and our two boys age 13 and 14. This will cost $10,000 less. There is something wrong here.

The state was also offering a "value" plan for retirees with a family plan cost of $14,000. The plan includes a $4,000 family deductible and covers only 70% of hospital costs and most procedures within the network. When you are used to something better, this is a big change. It was my opinion that there were better deals available negotiated directly with a health insurer.

There are very significant cost differentials for health insurance depending on the plan design and deductibles of the health policy you purchase. My former employer was a state government with extensive benefits and low co-pays for office visits and prescriptions. There was no standard deduction. Until the end of 2008, retirees were offered single plan coverage with no cost sharing. Starting in 2009, new retirees were offered 80% of the cost of a single plan and the cost of the plan was based upon the experience of the retiree pool rather than the cost of the total employee and retiree pool. Retirees are still given the opportunity to purchase the family plan at the retiree pool cost. The family plan costs around $24,000 a year (compared to the active employee plan of $18,000). The single plan for retirees costs around $8,000. Thus, the state would pay around $6,400 for me and I would have had to pay almost $18,000 a year for my wife and two sons. Fortunately, I had another job with good coverage but 20% cost sharing on the premiums.

Health Insurance

This is a subject that will take some time. My first postings will deal with issues facing older fathers who are under age 65. If you remain employed and have an employer who offers a full family plan, there are no issues to discuss. On the other hand, if you are self employed or work for a small employer where age rated premiums may apply, you do have some things to consider.

Where to retire (continued)?

If your kids are beyond being kids and are ready for high school, the perfect match is San Diego and Canyon Crest Academy

For a New Englander and Red Sox fan this sounds even more perfect when you look at a map because the high school is just off the Ted Williams Freeway.

I've never been to San Diego, and I spent one day 20 years ago in Jacksonville. But now I've got some ideas that could at least turn into plans for a vacation.

Another way to research the dual criteria of retirement nirvana and good schools is to identify with your spouse and family where you would like to move and then search the greatschools.org website to determine whether there are good schools in the community. The site allows you to search elementary, middle, and high schools in just about any community in the United States.