Retirement: The transition to Corning Pre-65 Health-care Insurance
File this under, "I wish I'd know this."
My last day of work is Monday 9/30/24. I move to Medicare on 10/1/24. I already have my Medicare card and supplement plan information.
Last July when I started the formal process with Corning, I had to sign my (younger) wife up for Corning Retiree Pre-65 Health-care coverage. Fast forward to today. I'm unclear what my wife's health-care insurance situation is in early October. No new insurance card has been received.
A few days ago I sent a message via the Corning Benefits website asking about my situation. Their response was to call United Health-care. I made the call today. UHC receives a feed at some frequency from Corning. Nothing has changed in that feed so far. Technically still covered by the employee plan today. The UHC person put me on hold and called Corning Benefits. Next I'm on the phone with a Corning Benefits person and the UHC person has dropped off. Here's the likely process that's going to happen:
- Corning sends a feed to UHC every week.
- The first week in Oct, UHC will receive a new feed with our health-care changes.
- This will kick off a series of things, including a new ID and card for my wife, which will be mailed to her.
- It's likely this will take at least 2 to 4 weeks.
- If we have a health-care emergency, I was assured there would be no gap in coverage.
- We may have to work with UHC on billing issues during the transition.
We're fortunate that my wife planned for some doctor visits and procedures in September instead of waiting till October. And her medical calendar is empty for October.
Knowing what I know now, I would advise retirees to plan for a scheduled medical service blackout period for 3 or 4 weeks as you transition from employee coverage to Pre-65 coverage.
I'm not certain but now assume my wife's health-care yearly deductible may start over in October. This might be a reason to favor an early-year retirement date over a late-year date.