Obamacare $5B subsidy for employee early retirement plans

Here is an article related to the $5B subsidy for employee early retirement plans:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050405171.html

Employers need to apply for this money to reduce the premiums of their early retiree health plans. I understand from Cisco HR that they have not applied for this. Not sure if it's too late to apply for it now.

RMAP Experience and thoughts

My experience and things I learned about RMAP over the past year:

I took the early retirement package last Sept. My husband and I are both over 65 so COBRA wasn't even an option when I retired. We took RMAP and chose Kaiser (CA) as we were already with Kaiser before. New this year: if you weren't with Kaiser before, you can't begin with Kaiser under RMAP. RMAP becomes secondary/supplemental to Medicare which is required for those over 65.

One important thing to consider for the FUTURE (things do change) is that if you do not take ANY coverage under RMAP (refuse it) you can never get it again. All you have to do is sign up for VSP and/or dental to keep RMAP as an option for the future. Often we take a short-term view when current needs are pressing and don't look into long-term needs and possible consequences. Medical needs change over time and it's always good to have options open. Just taking VSP coverage thru RMAP is a minimal monthly payment but keeps your eligibility open for RMAP medical and dental at any time in the future.

I won't be able to attend the conference call on Monday but will visit the blog periodically if people have questions. Most of you are probably not in my age bracket so my experience/info may or may not be helpful.

What are the Health Insurance options after COBRA

This blog will be devoted to discuss the pros and cons of various health insurance options available to ex-cisco employees after expiration of COBRA.
The two obvious options are CALCOBRA (for those in California ) and RMAP. But we need to find out the most appropriate and economical insurance plan based on the new health care reforms introduced by Obama government.

Here are the rate tables for some health insurance plans:-

 

 We need to find out the 2011 rates for CALCOBRA and other private insurance companies to get a comparative view of what best suites our insurance needs.
I encourage all the interested people to participate in collecting and posting the latest information in this regard  to his blog for the benefit of all.
The first conference call will be held on Monday 15th November at 10:30 am PST to discuss how to proceed with our effort to find the most economical and effective way to obtain the health coverage for our familty. The conference call details are:-
Phone: 712-432-0190
Pass code: 625765


Happy Blogging and good health to you all !!!

-Ajit