Read the severance package SPD under Work, Life, and Time Off > Life Events
“Retirement Qualified” means any of the following:
This will allow you to purchase retiree health coverage, dental, life… I do not think vision carries into retirement.
@2ryo+1jxviC3C true. But there is a medicare advantage plan you can get. I don't know the details of what it covers as I'm not quite the right age yet, but there should be information out there on it. Or call the benefits line.
@2yzg+1jxviC3C thanks for the clarification.
There is some other plan, too, called the $1000 Medicare indemnity plan (through UHG)? Even after reading the documentation for it, I struggle to comprehend what exactly it is supposed to cover or how.
To my understanding, the group health plan (BCBS) is only allowed to be kept until you are Medicare eligible. Is this true?
@2qqr+1jxviC3C for management retirees, vision is included in the medical coverage, there is no separate SPD for it.
Just know that retiree benefits are nothing to get excited about EVEN IF you've been around long enough to qualify for a subsidy. I can't imagine what Access Only looks like. While they are great benefits, they come at great cost. You'd do better to look at the exchange.
@cwu+1jxviC3C said “vision is part of VZ retirement benefits”
There is no vision SPD under retiree access-only healthcare options. Only medical and dental. (For management employees)
I cannot see bargained benefits - perhaps vision is part of theirs?
I want to thank the poster for kicking off this discussion and those who mentioned ACA (Obamacare). It is surprising how much you can have for an income and get a subsidy; not a full one, but it looks like enough that it will be cheaper than continuing Cobra.
Access only is higher then that cobra amount. Unless you had enough years back when the pension froze and a large enough subsidy.
There is a retirement benefit for medical and dental though! Even for those not in the union or those select few mgmt employees with a ton of years. You can pay what is probably more than the cobra amount monthly and continue your medical/dental in the retirement pool of employees. I couldn’t convince my manager that it wasn’t a benefit.
There are no retirement benefits. Your celllphone plan goes from a 50% discount to a 25% discount, and you can buy COBRA for some ungodly amount. You get severance and an equivalent amount of time with paid healthcare, after that, you are on your own.
verizon sucks
Vision is part of VZ retirement benefits....
Unless you get it through your contract or have a very large subsidy due to alot of years with management it is fsr too expensive. They put retirees in a different bucket and you pay full price so it is astronomica. ACA with or without a subsidy is far cheaper.
Thanks @tdy+1jxviC3C
One resource I read said if you are retirement qualified, you should not choose COBRA because it will impact your ability to enroll in Access Only retiree healthcare. The Access Only plan rates were not posted, but the cobra rates for employee + 1 were $1500/mo just for medical.
My mother has an ACA plan. If you have income low enough, and can get a sub-$1000 deductible, it’s a great deal for someone whose income will not be changing in the foreseeable future. If it does, you risk having to pay back some or all of the subsidies for the year in which your income increased.
I very much enjoy the EPN with the $400 deductible.
Don’t be a fool and buy vz cobra, it’s a rip off, apply for Obamacare which is based on your income which for rifs is now zero, you’ll realize how much the company was ripping you off for premiums all those years