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5a. Decision: Group HP/HPE Plans If receiving Medicare benefits from -- or subsidized by -- HP or HPE. If you haven't already done so, start at Medicare - First step Trap: HP/HPE enrollment deadlines are soft deadlines. Medicare deadlines are hard deadlines. For 2025 -- but not 2026 for HP Inc -- you may have two alternatives for your Medicare coverage -- depending on your HP/HPE retiree medical program: 1. Group Medicare plans are privately negotiated by HP or HPE and administered by the HP or HPE Benefits Center. (HPE refers to group plans as "sponsored" plans.) Premiums reflect the cost of care across the HP or HPE retiree population, and are therefore rapidly increasing as that population ages. To reduce costs to the company and the retiree, the range of group plans offered has been reduced over the years. Group plans can be very different from similarly-named publicly-available individual plans purchased on the open market. May cover dependents or be better for those with pre-existing conditions or high medication costs. May have a broader network and service area, more comprehensive coverage, or different out-of-pocket costs and yearly limits. Group plans have different plan numbers from open-market plans. You work with the HP or HPE Benefits Center to select and administer your group plan. HP or HPE is the purchaser of the plan -- and can intervene on your behalf. Available for 2025, but not 2026 for HP Inc. Details and member advice: https://www.hpalumni.org/medicare-group 2. Individual, open-market Medicare plans are available through insurance sales agencies and directly from insurance companies. Premiums are based on the highly-competitive open market and across all customers of the insurer. Medicare plans must meet certain standards but vary on critical details -- such as network and service area, referrals and pre-approvals, out-of-pocket costs, and yearly limits. HP and HPE have both selected a specific nationwide insurance sales agency -- Alight Retiree Health Solutions -- to sell and administer plans that are subsidized by HP or HPE. If you qualify for an HP or HPE subsidy, you must purchase through AlightRHS to get it. For 2004, nearly 50% of HP Medicare retirees were on open-market plans. You don't need to use AlightRHS if you don't have a subsidy -- however, their public website is a good place to explore alternatives. AlightRHS has a public website that lets you compare Advantage, Supplement, and drug plans based on your location and personal health situation. For each plan, it checks if your specific doctors are in-network and calculates cost for the generic or brand-name drugs you specify. (Notes: AARP/UHC Supplement plans are listed, but you must call Alight for details and pricing. Some plans -- especially local plans -- are not available through Alight.) Set up your Alight account, enter your data, and use the website to compare your alternatives before your appointment with the Alight agent. Members report that AlightRHS agents, who must be licensed to sell in your state, vary in availability, experience, and competence. Follow along on the website while on the phone with the agent. HP/HPE do not directly pay anything to AlightRHS. You pay list price to the insurance company every month. Alight is paid the standard commission by the insurance company. If you qualify for a subsidy, Alight notifies the Benefits Center, which reimburses you monthly until your special "Retiree Reimbursement Account" (not to be confused with an RMSA or HSA) has been depleted for the year. (RRA amount depends on years-of-service and when you left.) Details and member advice below on this page. If you decline HP/HPE medical coverage: Depending on your situation, you can lose the ability to re-enroll in HP/HPE coverage -- and your surviving dependents will not be eligible for HP/HPE coverage. Details: https://www.hpalumni.org/reenroll-restrictions You must carefully compare the alternatives yourself. The AlightRHS sales agency does not have info on the HP/HPE private group plans -- nor vice-versa. Member advice on how to compare plans: https://www.hpalumni.org/health-compare How to escalate retiree benefits issues to HP, HPE, or AlightRHS: https://www.hpalumni.org/escalate Group Medicare plans are negotiated by the company and administered by the company's Benefits Center and administered by the HP and HPE Benefits Centers. The HP Benefits Center is operated by Alight Benefits Administration; The HPE Benefits Center by Bswift/Aetna. - You pay HP or HPE via their Benefits Center. - Group plan features are customized for the specific employer. Premiums reflect the cost of care across the HP or HPE retiree population, and are rapidly increasing. May cover dependents or be better for those with pre-existing conditions or high medication costs. Group plans can be much more expensive -- but may have better features -- than similar individual plans purchased on the highly-competitive open market. (Why HP group plan costs are going up. hpalumni.org/health-cost ) - A group plan may be better for your specific situation: dependents (such as a spouse/partner), pre-existing conditions, or medications. While there are government specifications for open-market Medicare Advantage and Supplement plans, employer plans do not have to match those specifications. - Group plans and individual, open-market plans with similar names from the same carrier may have very different coverage features. - The AlightRHS sales agency does not have info on the HP/HPE private group plans. Member advice on how to compare plans: hpalumni.org/health-compare - To purchase a group plan, you work with the people at the HP or HPE Benefits Center. (HPE refers to group plans as "sponsored" plans.) - Under a group plan, if you have a problem with a carrier or HMO, you work through the Benefits Center. HP or HPE is a customer of your insurance carrier or HMO -- and can escalate issues. You must carefully compare the alternatives yourself. Medical Coverage Summaries. Details of the features, covered costs, and limitations for each current HP group plan. Not available online. To have the Pre-65 and/or Post-65 version sent by mail, go to https://www.myhpbenefits.com -- select "Health & Insurance" then "Request Materials." (It will also include plans that are not available to you due to your region or situation.) You can compare benefits and costs for all open-market plans -- Advantage, Drug, and Medigap -- available in your ZIP code on the official Medicare site. Gives estimated cost -- and contact info -- for each plan. (Notes: No sales agency, including AlightRHS, offers all plans available in your area. The official Medicare comparison site does not have information on any group plans, such as HP/HPE, that you might be qualified for.) https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare Deadlines. The HP and HPE enrollment deadlines are much earlier than the Dec 7, 2023 national Medicare deadline to adjust your coverage for the next calendar year. (The national deadline does not apply if you have qualified life event during the year -- such as starting Medicare.) If you won't be able to resolve your Medicare situation by the HP/HPE enrollment deadline -- for example, because you can't get an AlightRHS advisor appointment in time, or you have an application pending for an individual Medicare plan through AlightRHS -- HP and HPE recommend that you enroll in the best HP/HPE plan now and change later if necessary. There is a confirmation and mop-up cycle after the stated HP/HPE deadline. However, members report that changes made too far after the original deadline may not be in place at your providers by January 1.
HPInc: "You must make corrections by December 16, 2022, at 6
p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. Central Time). After that date,
you won’t be able to make changes for 2023 unless you
experience a qualified status change and call the HP
Benefits Center within 60 days."
HPE: " If you need to correct your elections, notify the HPE
Benefits Center before December 31, 2022." You can change back to an HP/HPE group plan from AlightRHS individual coverage, as indicated in your Annual Enrollment Guide. Next step: 5b. Consider Open Market Plans Premiums are based on the highly-competitive open market and across all customers of the insurer. Advice and reference info from members. (Oct 10, 2024) Website operated by volunteers. Not officially endorsed or supported. Question? Email: info@hpalumni.org |
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