I just wish we had the option for medicare at an earlier age, I believe just the ability for anyone to sign up and use medicare would force the insurance companies to lower their prices to compete because medicare has for the first time the ability to tell drug companies what they are wiling to pay for meds.
Or at least align with other government age mandates such as 59-1/2 or 62. Heck, even age 55 since you can access your pre-tax retirement at 55 with the rule of 55 now.
Any lowering of the age would help, I know quite a few people putting off retirement because of their inability to purchase healthcare insurance at a decent price therefore they continue to work, staying on their companies healthcare plan. Being able to get on medicare at say even 55 would allow those people to retire, opening up more good paying jobs for the younger generations.
I dont want to retire at 55 but I sure would like to be working at a golf course by that age. Im guessing healthcare benefits are not the best for those type of jobs.
Working a job because you still want too but no long have too is very enlightening to the employee. I taught a couple of years after reaching my rule of 88 because I wanted to be able to draw SS at 62, rather than retiring earlier and then forced to go out and find a 2nd job to make up the difference.
Many feel that if they are going to continue to work, they might as well stay at the level they are currently at, with the pay and responsibility that comes with that position. At many companies if you are not a full time employee they do not cover your insurance.
That is probably right now. Usually the average is between 2.5-3 but we got off a long run of 2 and under so we will swing higher now
I believe IPERS now shortened the wait to 1-2 months. Heard a school up here gave the option to those that could collect to retire at the end of the year, come back and start at the beginning teacher wage.
I think if that was done, employers would RAPIDLY reduce their cost share on health insurance, driving almost everyone to Medicare. That would overwhelm the gvmt both logistically and financially I think.
They did during Covid, but then turned around and went back to the old system a couple of years later. It possible they changed it again, but I have not read anything about it in the IPERS newsletter we still get. They also took off the cap a person could receive while drawing IPERS, not sure if that has been put back on again or not.
The system also strongly incentivizes people to not work. If you have no income you can get free healthcare, and that's regardless of any amount of savings/investments!
I would guess this would help districts that are struggling to hire qualified teachers in some fields. Allow them to retire, then turn around and rehire them in the fall without sitting out what used to be four months. Now they can count the summer break and allow them to start back in August as opposed to October under the old system.
I am in this age bracket. This past week I turned down an opportunity to farm additional land as it would require me to step away from my job with benefits. If I was eligible for Medicare I probably would have accepted the opportunity....but at my age the idea of paying for health care would offset a large percentage of the additional farming income.
