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UPS Retirement Topics
Teamcare Retiree Insurance Doesn't Pay If Spouse is Disabled
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<blockquote data-quote="scratch" data-source="post: 5584017" data-attributes="member: 1674"><p>If your wife hasn't been declared disabled from her cancer and isn't able to receive Social Security benefits then I think you are okay for now. I strongly suggest you call your healthcare insurance person at your Local or Teamcare and ask about your situation to be sure.</p><p></p><p>In my case, we got married in 1983 and she went on Teamcare in 1984 when I bid into full-time package driving. In 1999, she got diagnosed with a genetic eye disease called Retinitus Pigmentosa and was told she would go completely blind in a few years. It took us two years of fighting to get her eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits, SSDI. At that time, she was told she could go on Medicare, but that only covered hospitalization without paying extra for a supplement. Disabled people are automatically able to go on Medicare at any age. She called Teamcare and explained her situation, and was told she had the option of Medicare or staying on Teamcare, you can't use both. Teamcare was a better option at the time, so she stayed on it. So I retired in October 2020, and $200 apiece started coming out of my UPS/IBT pension check as expected. I honestly did not know that Teamcare and Teamcare Retiree Insurance is two different plans, my Shop Steward and Business Agent didn't know either. So for two years, I paid for her Teamcare Retiree insurance and every one of her doctor's visits were pre-approved by them. She had three out-patient surgeries that pushed those costs high, and I suspect that Teamcare was looking for a way to drop her. So one day in October 2022, she gets a call from her eye doctor and is told she no longer has health insurance and they cancelled her appointment for the next day. Teamcare did not call me or send an email, we got a letter a week later telling us her insurance was cancelled and we would be asked to re-imburse her doctors for two years of medical care. At that time, the bills added up to $44,000 but they kept digging up every single thing they could find and that total got to about $94,000. We aren't going to pay back that much, most doctors will settle for a "cash out" to close out that account.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="scratch, post: 5584017, member: 1674"] If your wife hasn't been declared disabled from her cancer and isn't able to receive Social Security benefits then I think you are okay for now. I strongly suggest you call your healthcare insurance person at your Local or Teamcare and ask about your situation to be sure. In my case, we got married in 1983 and she went on Teamcare in 1984 when I bid into full-time package driving. In 1999, she got diagnosed with a genetic eye disease called Retinitus Pigmentosa and was told she would go completely blind in a few years. It took us two years of fighting to get her eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits, SSDI. At that time, she was told she could go on Medicare, but that only covered hospitalization without paying extra for a supplement. Disabled people are automatically able to go on Medicare at any age. She called Teamcare and explained her situation, and was told she had the option of Medicare or staying on Teamcare, you can't use both. Teamcare was a better option at the time, so she stayed on it. So I retired in October 2020, and $200 apiece started coming out of my UPS/IBT pension check as expected. I honestly did not know that Teamcare and Teamcare Retiree Insurance is two different plans, my Shop Steward and Business Agent didn't know either. So for two years, I paid for her Teamcare Retiree insurance and every one of her doctor's visits were pre-approved by them. She had three out-patient surgeries that pushed those costs high, and I suspect that Teamcare was looking for a way to drop her. So one day in October 2022, she gets a call from her eye doctor and is told she no longer has health insurance and they cancelled her appointment for the next day. Teamcare did not call me or send an email, we got a letter a week later telling us her insurance was cancelled and we would be asked to re-imburse her doctors for two years of medical care. At that time, the bills added up to $44,000 but they kept digging up every single thing they could find and that total got to about $94,000. We aren't going to pay back that much, most doctors will settle for a "cash out" to close out that account. [/QUOTE]
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