health insurance

We were self employed for decades. Health insurance is one hot mess in the US.
We are now on Medicare but before we turned 65, we were paying over $2000/mo and had high deductibles so most years add on another $3-5K out of pocket.

What don’t you qualify for Medicare? If you need more contribution go back to work.
If you have the income bite the bullet. If not, work until your 65.

I too am curious why you wouldn't be eligible for Medicare come age 65. Even if you didn't work, you can be covered if you were married to someone who does qualify for more than 10 years. There are many rules and provisions to medicare, so it would pay to get professional help. And even if there is no way for you to qualify, you can still buy in at a premium much lower than private insurance provided you are a legal US citizen.
As for current coverage, you might very well qualify for premium assistance under the ACA unless you make a significant income. If that is the case, premiums for people in their 50s and 60s are just plain expensive, even with sky high deductibles. And if there was actually an easy fix, even our completely inept legislative and executive branches of government would have gotten it accomplished. But healthcare is wildly expensive and free lunches don't exist. Like Whack-A-Mole, trying to fix one area will just cause another huge problem to pop up.

I worked for the state so i never paid social security. my pensiion is through the state retirement system. my wife did pay into soscial security so i can get madicare through her even through i did not pay in/ if so is it at a subsidential cost

Really?
If you don't get SS benefits does that exclude you from Medicare?

jesseannie

I am retired and have good coverage from a state run system for teachers. It is a merging of the state system and medicare. Definitely not free. The medicare part is around $100/month and the state part is maybe 200 or so. My wife is covered under the same system but not subsidized so our total bill must be over $400. Also, there is considerable out-of-pocket. Not complaining considering the medical care we've had. I think we could come close to the premiums with something like blue-cross but without some of the guaranteed coverage and unlimited amount, etc.

As a retired teacher, I am not eligible for social security because we did not pay into it except for a small amount from pre-teaching work. But we did pay a small amount so as to be medicare eligible which I am.

I can get medicare when i reach 65 through my state run pension plan, its call ed the connector, they will subsidize my premiums but at what % is still unknown.

there are other options besides traditional insurance. look into/google MediShare.

I'm a retired city cop and didn't pay into SS for 30 years but I am Medicare eligible and am on it. My wife won't be 65 for another 18 months and she is continuing on my city healthcare plan to the tune of $600/month. FWIW, I paid $0 into healthcare for the last 10 years that I've been retired so I shouldn't complain.

machunt wrote:
I can get medicare when i reach 65 through my state run pension plan, its call ed the connector, they will subsidize my premiums but at what % is still unknown.

The subsidy is likely going to be similar to what they are subsidizing today - I would use that as benchmark for making plans. My guess is that whatever they are offering is likely better than what your going to find elsewhere. Each state/locality is different - my friends a retired teacher his retirement plan was excellent compared to anything else available.