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Medicare Open-Market plans subsidized by HP or HPE. (Updated Aug 20, 2025)If receiving Medicare benefits subsidized by HP or HPE. If you haven't already done so, start at Medicare - First step Best source of reliable Medicare info is the very clear official book -- "Medicare & You" -- in the mail or online at: https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf (2026 edition now available -- Sep 10, 2025.) Trap: HP/HPE enrollment deadlines are soft deadlines. Medicare deadlines are hard deadlines. Standard open-market Medicare policies are available through insurance sales agencies and directly from health systems and insurance companies. Premiums are based on the highly-competitive open market and across all customers of the insurer. Sales agencies are paid a standard commission and monthly admin fee by the insurance company. There are government specifications for open-market Advantage and Medigap ("Supplement") policies. A carrier may add additional features, but can't change the required basic coverage. Advantage plans generally limit non-emergency care to doctors, hospitals, and other providers within a specific network -- and often require prior authorization for services, drugs, or specialists.
If you have a Medicare subsidy from HP or HPE, you must purchase from a specific nationwide sales agency -- Alight Retiree Health Solutions. You pay the list price for the plan. The HP or HPE Benefits Center reimburses you monthly until your annual subsidy is used up. 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 Alight sales agency does not have info on the HP/HPE private group policies. Member advice on how to compare policies: https://www.hpalumni.org/health-compare Consider individual, open market Medicare plans subsidized by HP or HPE: To administer individual policies subsidized through the Benefits Centers, HP and HPE have selected a nationwide sales agency that offers many (but not all) available open-market plans -- Alight Retiree Health Solutions. (The HP Inc Benefits Center is operated by Alight Benefits Administration -- a separate company from the Medicare sales agency Alight Retiree Health Solutions.) You receive a HP/HPE subsidy only if you purchase through Alight. This is covered in your Annual Enrollment Coverage Statement, the personalized cover letter mailed with the printed Enrollment Guide. This is not clear in the Enrollment Guides. There are government specifications for open-market Advantage and Medigap policies. A carrier may add additional features, but can't change the required basic coverage. Insurance sales agencies charge the same list price and are paid the same standard commission by the insurance companies -- for the initial sale and then a monthly admin fee thereafter. Your net price is lower if you buy through Alight and your policy is subsidized by HP or HPE. No sales agency, including Alight, offers all policies available in your ZIP code. For example, some AARP/UHC plans do not show up on the Alight plan selector -- but are available by request. Alight has a very well-done "Plan Recommendation Tool" -- with details and list prices for the specific policies they carry. To purchase an individual health insurance policy, the transaction must be completed by an agent who holds an insurance sales license in your state. The Alight system and agents do not have information on group plans available from HP/HPE. Examine the alternatives online before your appointment with an Alight agent, which you can do without registering or affecting current enrollment.
Prices and features for anyone at https://retiree.alight.com are the same as via the HP and HPE logins -- and the same at any broker or sales agency. (The company-related logins are: https://retiree.alight.com/hp and https://retiree.alight.com/hewlettpackardenterprise ) Also use the official Medicare site. No sales agency offers all policies available in your area. Use the official Medicare site to compare benefits and estimated costs -- with contact info -- for all standard Advantage, Medigap, and Drug policies available in your area. https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare There are many ways to buy Medicare policies. Your car/home insurance agent carries a limited range of health policies. To find a local independent agent familiar with what works best in your area, ask your friends and neighbors -- or ask on Nextdoor or Facebook. An experienced health insurance agent can make a big difference. For example, members report that their agent may submit an anonymous "test" application to an insurance company. Or help them fill out their application to position them for the best price or coverage -- or deal with pre-existing conditions. You can explore most -- but not all -- of your options without setting up an Alight Retiree account (or without disturbing your current Alight Retiree account settings.)
1. Go to the Alight Retiree Health Solutions public website Or you can go to Alight's HP or HPE website and create an account. (This is a different account from your Benefits Center account.) https://retiree.alight.com/hp -- Alight website for HP. https://retiree.alight.com/hewlettpackardenterprise -- Alight website for HPE. Create account and enter your medications. Then compare policies. Get your Alight appointment early! In some states, Alight doesn't have a sufficient number of licensed agents. You are competing for attention with employees and retirees of 150 other organizations. - Members report that Alight agents vary dramatically in availability, experience, and competence. Because Alight helps people get their state insurance sales license, that job is an entry path into the insurance industry. You can ask to switch to a different Alight agent. - Alight agents receive sales commissions for plans they place in your cart. - Given Alight's limited availability of licensed and experienced agents in some states, it is best to explore your options online before talking to Alight. You can do that without setting up an Alight account or disturbing your current plan choices. The amount of the subsidy you would receive if you choose to buy through Alight Retiree Health Solutions is shown in the body of the personalized Annual Enrollment Coverage Statement under the heading "HP premium reimbursements for Alight Retiree Health Solutions Retiree Health Exchange coverage." [See yellow highlights in our sample personalized Coverage Statement: hpalumni.org/2021HPIncSampleStatement-Aon.pdf ] Examine the Alight choices for your area -- with list prices that you pay directly to Alight -- without making any commitment. (You receive the RRA subsidy directly from HP.) You can explore your options without talking to Alight or creating an account (or without disturbing your current account settings.) Alight for HP https://retiree.alight.com/hp Alight for HPE -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise https://retiree.alight.com/hewlettpackardenterprise Prepare for your call by using the Alight site: - Register and confirm your enrollment appointment - Enter your prescriptions -- which has a huge effect on which plans work best for you. - Compare plans and put the best alternatives in the shopping cart Member tip: After the first year with Alight, "Don't bother with an Advisor, who is unlikely to know anything that you haven't already researched. They also take up a lot of your time. And from reports on this forum, they sometimes stand you up. Now that we are allowed to do our own enrollment on their web site, do that. It worked for me." Work with both Alight and the Benefits Center to determine the best plan for your specific situation offered via each. Then you make the final choice. The HPAA has an informal escalation path into Alight management -- which works very well. https://www.hpalumni.org/escalate-ARHS How the HP or HPE subsidy works. You pay list price to the insurance company every month. Alight Retiree Health Solutions is paid their commission and reports to the Benefits Center. - If on the Pre-2003 program, you are reimbursed monthly from a special "Retiree Reimbursement Account" (RRA) until your annual subsidy is used up. (No connection with any other account that you might have, such as a Health Savings Account.) The process works well once set up. - If on the current Retiree Medical Program, you can request reimbursement via your Retiree Medical Savings Account (RMSA.) Your subsidy is not reported to the IRS as taxable compensation. HP/HPE do not directly pay anything to Alight Retiree Health Solutions. Instead, the insurance companies pay Alight for new policies and renewals. Your HP/HPE benefits account settings are confusing at first glance: - On your HP/HPE Benefits account, select "Alight Retiree Health Solution $0.00" as your plan -- instead of the default company group plan and price. This will cause the Benefits Center to notify Alight. (It says "$0.00" because you pay the carrier directly.) - The plan or plans you bought are specified on your Alight account -- but are irrelevant to the company, and therefore not indicated on your HP/HPE Benefits account. Carefully go through the Annual Enrollment Coverage Statement, the personalized cover letter mailed with the Enrollment Guide. The Statement gives critical details that are not covered in the Guide -- such as the amount of any subsidy. Unlike the Enrollment Guide, your Coverage Statement is not available on your http://www.myhpbenefits.com account. You can change back to an HP/HPE group plan from Alight individual coverage, see your Enrollment Guide for limitations.
Alight Retiree Health Solutions for HP
https://retiree.alight.com/hp
Alight Retiree Health Solutions for HPE -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
https://retiree.alight.com/hewlettpackardenterprise Troubleshooting. Member advice: Medicare troubleshooting and contacts Next step: Retiree Reimbursement Account Details on Retiree Reimbursement Account. Advice and reference info from members. Not officially endorsed or supported. Click to join the HPAA Question? Email us: info@hpalumni.org |
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