HR hosted a Medicare webinar this week that all colleagues were invited to attend. Though I’m a decade away from Medicare, I’m not knowledgeable about it and it’s an aspect of retirement planning I should consider. So I attended. I was surprised at how few people attended and I think I was the youngest one. The person presenting the information was not from the company but from an organization that offers Medicare consulting services. The positive aspect of that is that she knew the topic inside & out. The negative aspect is that she was presenting an informational seminar to sell their services, so it was clearly in her best interest to make the topic complex and to be biased toward over-insuring.

The seminar was informative and I did glean some information for my planning purposes.

As to the components and their costs, I took these notes:
Part A – covers inpatient hospital & hospice care. $0 premium. $1408/occurrence deductible + co-pays after 60 days
Part B – covers doctors & medical services. $145 - $492/mo/pp premium depending upon income (rolling 2-year look-back). $198 deductible, then 20% coinsurance. Covers Part A deductible.
Part C – supplemental medical insurance. 2 types & various choices. ~$160/mo/pp premium.
Part D – prescription drugs. ~$33/mo/pp premium. $435 deductible.

Enrollment is not automatic and the initial enrollment period is 7 months long – 3 months before the birthday month, the birthday month, and 3 months afterward. After that there are forever-penalties that are tacked on to the premium if you enroll late in a component that has a premium.

It’s not a high deductible plan so you can’t contribute to an HSA any longer but you can use funds from an existing one to pay expenses including the costs of the premiums for Part B or D and some Part Cs.

Based on my knowledge of Medicare now and my personal values, I plan to take these actions:
(1) Enroll in Medicare just before my 65th birthday
(2) Make sure our income keeps us at the base premium level for Part B, beginning the year DH turns 63.
(3) Skip parts C, D and plan to spend that money on health-promoting activities instead.

Is there anyone using Medicare now that has tips or gotchas for the rest of us to know for planning?

My 2020 goal #2 is to adopt a permanent health-enhancing habit each month. I’ve decided that my new health habit for January will be to fast one day each month. This is an uncomfortable change for me but I’m convinced that it’ll be an improvement.
For January, I am going to have the 31st be the fast day. Then if I can make it 2 days, I’ll knock out February’s day too. I’ve read that 3 days is optimal, but I just don’t know that I can do it.

NEW HEALTH HABIT #1:
Fast 1 day per month

BENEFIT:
Improves cardiovascular health, improves insulin sensitivity, promotes longevity, decreases inflammation, improves cell recycling, protects brain

COST:
Upfront – zero
Ongoing – zero

It could be that there is a cost-savings, but I’m not counting on it. I’ll probably drink herbal teas during the day so that may cost about the same as food. (Coffee is allowed but I don’t like mine black.)

Since I’ve gotten my first paycheck of the year, I’m checking the accuracy of my deductions. The company where I work had an enrollment period for our 2020 benefits during November. As typical, health insurance premiums increased some. Most other benefits remained the same. But there was one odd change – the company’s contribution to our HSA accounts DECREASED by 500 bucks. No explanation. That’s like a small pay cut. I don’t like when negative changes are implemented quietly – it seems sneaky. In fact, I wonder how many of my colleagues noticed. As an aside, this reminds me of my experience with banks. PNC and Ally both have fluctuating interest rates, but Ally sends a notification every time the rate changes, regardless of the direction. PNC never has sent a notification. Guess which bank I trust more?

Anyway, since the HSA maximum contribution increased by 100 bucks (to $7100) in 2020, my company’s contribution decreased by $500 in 2020 (to $1000), and I’m eligible to contribute an extra ‘catch-up’ $1000 because I turn 55 this year, that leaves me with an extra $1600 to fund or $133 more each month than last year. About $592 total each month.

When the company moved to a high deductible plan years ago, it was a scary change. But in hindsight, it was a good move for our family. We’re a healthy bunch overall. Last year was pricey with two using braces-alternatives and the DH getting an MRI for knee pain, as well as typical doctor visits for bumps & bruises. (Boys and sports…) But we still didn’t come close to using the year’s contributions. So the HSA account has been building up. I’d like for it to reach a ‘safety net threshold’ of being able to cover 18 months of COBRA premiums in the event that the company and I part ways. Based on the company’s year-end statement, the total monthly premium for our family coverage is just over 2 grand. [I pay about $450 of that currently which admittedly is a good deal for a family of 7.] So my safety-net value for the HSA would be $36k. I’m about $10k shy of that now. Maybe within the next two years though? It would just be for peace of mind – my planned exit is not that soon.