Medicare Questions And Teamster Retiree Health Benefits.

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
Western Conference Retiree

My spouse nearing 65 we have to sign up.

Part A is automatic ( hospital )

Part B is optional $135 a month.

Part C and D ( supplemental and drug ) is something you can pay for to supplement A and B

The booklets are not clear regarding union retiree health plans.

Do we get to keep the teamster retiree health plans to supplement part A and pay for prescriptions?

Do we have to get Part B ( which is optional ) or does our retiree health plan thru the teamsters continue to take care of that?

Do we lose our Teamster Retiree health plan when we turn 65 and are enrolled in Medicare?

Like to hear from retirees that are enrolled in Medicare.

Thanks.
 

ski or die

Ski or Die
You will have to check with your local. Most supplements are different. Our health benefits terminate when you turn 65, but spouse remains until that person turns 65. Retirees in our local have to purchase Part B (hospital) and Part D. I believe some Western Conferences continue some of their health benefits.
 

Shiftless

Well-Known Member
Your key to your question on this part "Do we lose our Teamster Retiree health plan when we turn 65 and are enrolled in Medicare?"

Can you clarify if your Retiree Health insurance is provided by the Union or UPS?

You retired Nor-Cal, I was So-cal or at the time it was called So-Cal.

I too have to start signing up here with in a year and have to verify my options.

This below may not apply to you! If your insurance is covered by UPS now? This is what I have had people tell me? Trust but Verify! Too many variables on this site to trust any one source!

The retirees I have talked to who retired like myself with UPS as the health insurance provider, as required at age 65, signed up for MediCare which becomes the main provider then ups picks up the rest.
How B, C & D get in the mix or not? Do your research!

Post when you get it figured out!
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
Our health insurance since retired is from Retirees benefit trust from the union i guess. we pay $75 each per month for healthcare which is pretty good. They pay 80% and the 20 % we pay is what is left over after a write off. about $15 for a doctor visit. and $5 is our co=pay for prescriptions.

we'll have to call them.i was hoping a retiree from western conference or nor-cal could shed some light. this is very confusing. medicare has 7 different options and then it depends if you are retired with union benefits and so on.
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
We called the teamsters benefit trust for norcal and found out that we have to purchase part b . Medicare becomes primary and our teamster health benefits are secondary. she told us we could buy a part D for prescriptions but asked why? we have a $5 pay for 90 prescriptions so we will just keep that.

Part A is free and part B is $130 a month and that comes out of the SS check. The good part is as we get older and our medical expenses become more we will have little out of pocket with both plans . A fellow union retiree recently had heart surgery that cost $200,000 and he said he had no out of pocket as yet and that was 5 months ago.
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
Sure be nice if more Nor Cal and So Cal retiree's would chime in!
I know.

t's very frustrating. i did some homework online before posing these questions and got conflicting answers. I wanted to hear real life experiences with retires from Norcal who signed up for Medicare.

From the phone calls we made to the benefit trust it appears all we have to do is sign up for part B. The prescription ( or Part D ) may not be necessary they said because the teamster healthcare drug benny is so good. $5 per script for 3 months is pretty darn good.

But we still wanted to hear from retirees on what they suggested. Anyway , you can change your options once every year if you find a better option.
 
I retired out of So-Cal in 2015. I have been on Medicare since mid 2017. Medicare is the primary and the balance is covered by retiree coverage. I pay $200 a month to the teamsters out of Phoenix which oversees the health care plan. I believe that retiree medical coverage is renewed with each new contract approval. Western region and local 177 health care is the name of the plan.
 
One really needs to educate oneself on what Medicare pays for and how often. I have to check with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Arizona which handles the claims to see if Medicare doesn't cover something if the retiree plan would cover the claim.
 

Shiftless

Well-Known Member
I was So Cal too and yet my health insurance comes from the UPS and not the Teamsters.

Any So Cal retiree's that retired under the UPS health plan on here?
 

twoweeled

Well-Known Member
Our health insurance since retired is from Retirees benefit trust from the union i guess. we pay $75 each per month for healthcare which is pretty good. They pay 80% and the 20 % we pay is what is left over after a write off. about $15 for a doctor visit. and $5 is our co=pay for prescriptions.

we'll have to call them.i was hoping a retiree from western conference or nor-cal could shed some light. this is very confusing. medicare has 7 different options and then it depends if you are retired with union benefits and so on.
I bet you know about this. I'm also West Coast Conf. I was just on the phone with express scripts. They are tell me, they are no longer going to automatically refill and deliver our prescriptions. She was a bit puzzled as well, but she's tell me, we will have to have the doctor send in a new prescription every 3 months. Do you know anything about this?
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
I believe that true in California as well. My spouse has an Ambien script and it's a pain. it has to be approved every month. All states will probably follow Cali's lead. There is too much abuse with people getting scripts from multiple dr's and the opiode epidemic.
 

twoweeled

Well-Known Member
I believe that true in California as well. My spouse has an Ambien script and it's a pain. it has to be approved every month. All states will probably follow Cali's lead. There is too much abuse with people getting scripts from multiple dr's and the opiode epidemic.
It sounds like you haven't been notified yet? This just doesn't make sense. This is only making it more difficult. No other purpose. Certain controlled drugs have always been difficult. But this is all, or almost all.
 
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