AlightRHS phone appointment -- before and during. (Whether or not receiving benefits subsidized by HPInc or HPE.)

Menu of Benefits Enrollment pages: Enrollment Menu 

Based on reports from HP Alumni Association members who have completed enrollment. Join forums: https://www.hpalumni.org  Not officially endorsed or supported. Question? Email us: info@hpalumni.org  (Updated Dec 2, 2025)

Related page: AlightRHS issues. A major bug, AARP/UHC plans, cost variations, more. AlightRHS Issues

Note: If your coverage is not subsidized, Alight Retiree Health Solutions is just one of the many ways to select and buy health policies. https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-ways-to-buy

You may wish to buy your Advantage or Medigap plan via another path and use your HPInc RRA subsidy to buy other plans from AlightRHS -- such as Medicare Drug -- or general dental, vision, and/or hearing.

New! Get RRA subsidy without purchasing from AlightRHS. A way to file reimbursement claims. https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-without-alightrhs

About the AlightRHS appointment.

Agents are required by law to be licensed to sell health insurance in your state.

HPAA members report that AlightRHS agents vary dramatically in experience, competence, and responsiveness. Most are working remotely. Many are seasonal employees. AlightRHS is an entry path into the industry.

They often deal with retirees from multiple companies -- so may not know specifics about how HPInc and HPE are ending group plans.

Agents receive incentives when they place plans in your cart. They are not incented to push specific plans.

The phone appointment typically takes one hour -- two hours to include a dependent.

Before your appointment:

1. HPAA members strongly recommend that you explore your options on the AlightRHS website before your appointment.

The website you access is essentially the same as what the agent uses. The available plans can be sorted by Score, Total Cost, Premium, or insurer. For Advantage and Drug plans, you can also sort by CMS Star Rating.

Start at https://retiree.alight.com/hp (HPE: https://retiree.alight.com/hewlettpackardenterprise )  

If you don't have online access yet, click "Activate Your Account." 

Do not enter the names of your doctors.

It is unrealistic to rely on any online database -- whether from a health system, or from an insurer, or from an insurance sales agency (including AlightRHS) -- or even the official Medicare plan directory -- for plan coverage information on doctors and other providers.

That is fragile, constantly-changing, second- or third-hand information -- and may not be valid for the coming year.

Check directly with the doctors' offices to determine if your current doctors and other providers will be accepting the Medicare plan that you are considering for next year. Ask for the "billing specialist" or the "billing office." Some only accept existing patients. (Details: https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-providers )

2. Review the list of issues discovered by HPAA members:  https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-alightrhs-issues

During your appointment, log into your AlightRHS account.

Don't completely depend on the Alight agent. Be logged into your AlightRHS account.

Note that AlightRHS agents have no information about HPInc or HPE group coverage. You must carefully compare features yourself.

(Likewise, the HPInc or HPE Benefits Center has no information about which specific policies you have -- just that you bought through AlightRHS.)

Once a plan is selected, the agent brings you through a lengthy application process..

Insurance sales agents operate under stringent legal and bureaucratic limitations. A number of questions are repeated multiple times as the agent goes through different screens. The agent is required to read each question all the way through.

Trap: If asked detailed health questions, STOP!

When applying for a health policy -- anywhere -- some innocuous-sounding questions can be critical.

If you are losing your HPInc or HPE group Medicare plan this year due to the change to open-market individual Medicare plans,
and you want to buy a Medigap plan,
and an insurance sales agent insists on you answering detailed health questions beyond "Are you disabled?" and "Do you use tobacco?"
...stop the application process immediately!

You are undergoing "medical underwriting" -- which should not happen in your case.

If an employer group health plan (including retiree or COBRA coverage) is ending, you have a "guaranteed issue" right -- i.e. without consideration of your current health ("medical underwriting") -- in every state. (This is confusing -- laws in certain states require guaranteed issue in additional situations.)

Details: https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-guaranteed-issue

Problem with AlightRHS? -- such as the assigned agent not getting back to you or having difficulties using the system -- you can ask to switch agents. (And the HPAA has an escalation path to AlightRHS management -- which will get results: https://www.hpalumni.org/escalate-ARHS )

Despite all of this, most HPAA members report that the AlightRHS process works well once set up.

HPInc first offered subsidized open-market plans in 2017. Now used by thousands of HPInc retirees.

Next step: Menu of key Enrollment issues: https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-menu

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