Losing Health Insurance benefits for U.S. Baby Boomers

When Baby Boomers

Lose Health Insurance Benefits

 

 

By Sue Swen of LivingSenior

 

 

Losing health insurance benefits can be a frustrating and stressful experience for a person of any age, but for baby boomers that are nearing retirement age; it is even more overwhelming.

Baby boomers, or men and women born between 1946 and 1964, are entering their years of retirement (www.livingsenior.com/retirement_communities), which is associated which retiring from their jobs, living on a fixed income and dealing with the financial obligations of living on this lower income, paying additional fees for assisted or independent senior living communities, and the heightened health conditions and risk factors. So when a baby boomer loses their medical insurance coverage, whether while they are still employed or as a result of losing their job, it can be a debilitating experience due to the other worries associated with getting older and entering the next phase in their life.

Health insurance benefits and coverage is expected to change over the next several years which will have a direct effect on baby boomers. When they lose health insurance benefits before or during the age of retirement, baby boomers are expected to pay for insurance out of their own pocket and without substantial retirement savings; this can be close to impossible or otherwise diminish their quality of life considerably. When their group coverage insurance benefits are taken away, baby boomers will have limited choices in what insurance they can receive, most of which are not only pricey but may not accept seniors with pre-existing conditions.

COBRA insurance is typically the first choice for baby boomers that lose their job and insurance benefits as a result. However, while COBRA will give them an additional 18 months of health insurance benefits without worrying about pre-existing conditions, the costs of this insurance is staggering and may not be worth pursuing. Baby boomers that have serious medical conditions and may not be able to get insurance elsewhere should consider COBRA at least as a short-term solution.

Another option for health insurance coverage after losing their primary insurance benefits is to enroll in Medicare (www.livingsenior.com/Senior_Center/post/Allsup-Outlines-Costly-Mistakes-to-Avoid-With-Medicare.aspx) early, which may be an option for seniors who have retired early from their jobs. Enrolling in Part A or B of Medicare is recommended, along with Part D for discount prescription drug coverage and Medigap (www.livingsenior.com/blog/the-abcs-and-d-of-medicare) supplemental insurance to eliminate most out-of-pocket costs. If baby boomers are not able to enroll in Medicare when they lose their health insurance benefits, private insurance should be considered however it can be very expensive and have exceptions such as what kind of drugs are covered and if they can be enrolled with pre-existing conditions.

Coping

The best way to cope with losing health insurance benefits for baby boomers is to focus on their current health and maintain that level of health in order to reduce the necessity of seeing the doctor and paying these extra costs.

• Living a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise
• eating natural, organic foods
• drinking plenty of water
• decreasing the amount of unhealthy substances such as alcohol and tobacco

can impact their health greatly.

Contact for links underlined:  http://www.livingsenior.com/retirement_communities

Medicare http://www.livingsenior.com/Senior_Center/post/Allsup-Outlines-Costly-Mistakes-to-Avoid-With-Medicare.aspx

Medigap: http://www.livingsenior.com/blog/the-abcs-and-d-of-medicare

See more on exercise http://after-cancer.com/category/exercise/

Finding work as a Cancer Survivor

Helpful Agency ~ At last! 

 

 

 

Evenbreak, a not-for-profit social enterprise, was formed to address two problems:

1. Employers recognise the business benefits of a diverse workforce, but say  they find it hard to attract disabled candidates.
2. Disabled candidates find it is hard to find employers who will look beyond their disability.

Jane Hatton, MD of Evenbreak, faced these difficulties, set up her own employment agency, and is now attracting companies across the board.

Current jobs advertised on her site include some with salaries in excess of £40.000 pa.

Deciding to change jobs, it can be difficult to find something that pays a decent wage.

• Your brain is still active.
• The skills you needed to work in a highly-paid managerial job are still there
• It’s just you don’t have the stamina or energy to work full-time
• Or you need to work from home.

What’s available

Jane has gone out into the workplace, and found socially responsible companies that want to employ those with disabilities, and are very willing to offer flexible working conditions.

Evenbreak’s recent clients include the BBC, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Yorkshire Water, Zurich Financial Services, Euromixers, Centre for Independent Living, Smiths Medical and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

However, Jane is brutally honest;  a current job is for a Senior Test Engineer in Greater London, and she warns “Opportunities like this are rare, and if you’re not the best tester that you know, you’re probably not the person we’re looking for”.

Current Sample jobs:

SharePoint Developer ; Field-based Employment Advisor  in Avon (Part Time);
P.A. Administrator.

Other fields in which Jane has found jobs include:

Accountancy; Agriculture, Animals & Environment; Automotive, Driving & Transport;
Banking, Finance & Insurance; Catering & Hospitality; Charity; Construction & Skilled Trades; Customer Service & Call Centre; Distribution & Warehouse; Education & Teaching
Engineering; Freight and Logistics; HR & Recruitment; IT; Legal; Marketing, PR & Advertising; Project Management; Scientific & Pharmaceutical; Utilities, etc. etc.

On-site Information

There is information on the Access to Work scheme, and how it helps employers with the costs of providing reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.

And advice on updating your CV, and deciding how and when to declare a disability.  As she says, “There is no obligation for you to disclose a disability – it is your own decision. However, there are some things you might want to consider in making that decision”.

Volunteers needed

Having been working for some years, you know your worth – but does anyone else?  It seems all that’s on offer is shelf-stacking in the supermarket, or numerous voluntary jobs churned out in Macmillan emails.

You get these because you read that Macmillans has paid and voluntary jobs available.  You  fill in your CV, but once you have done this, it seems all you can be given is ‘expenses paid’ work.

Macmillan was instrumental in setting up the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative;  four years on there is still no help available for finding jobs – only lots of headings with no solid information for GPs, professionals or yourself.

Good news

But thanks to Jane, there is someone out there doing what she can to help us get back into work.  Of course, she doesn’t have the millions that the NHS found available to supposedly help survivors (and as a survivor I tried to find out what’s happened to this – but you can guess…..), but she was a Finalist in the Stelios Disabled Entrepreneurs Award, and being disabled herself knows the snags – and how to persuade companies that they can offer us jobs.

www.evenbreak.co.uk     0845 658 5717

Working after Cancer

Cancer Woman’s Business

Sustained By Home Working

Jacqui Burke, who runs Flourishing People from her home/office in West Wratting in Cambridgeshire, has entered the BT Home Business category of the 2010 Remote Worker Awards, in association with BT Business, and hopes to achieve national recognition if they win.

Flourishing People, an HR and training consultancy business which has been trading since 2001, has faced huge challenges recently, when Jacqui Burke, Managing Director of Flourishing People, was diagnosed with breast cancer and faced many months of grueling treatment.

Recently, Macmillan has been engaged in trying to ensure that anyone with cancer doesn’t find difficulties if they want to return to full-time work.  Having seen the proposals, they are excellent as far as the patient’s needs, but sadly the charity haven’t taken on board that the majority of companies in the UK are small businesses – and however much they want to be helpful, the capital often isn’t there to fund someone who isn’t able to work full time.  Added to which, there is a limit to co-workers’ goodwill when they constantly have to cover for someone who can’t give 100%.  Harsh, but in these days of credit crunch this has to be faced.

Jacqui’s way of working – Remote or Home Working – although it might not work for everyone, is an inspiration to anyone faced with health problems, who has wondered if they can cope.

Yes, you can.  and as Jacqui says, “I was determined to continue working throughout my treatment on the days when I felt well enough to do so, not just for financial reasons but also for my own sanity. Being home based enabled me to do this. On days when I felt ok I could come into my office and do just a couple of hours work and then go and rest when I felt tired, with no need to try to cover up how lousy I looked and don the horrible wig!”

Entering for the BT Home Business Award helps to raise awareness of how  home working arrangements can benefit workers who face health and other personal challenges, such as caring responsibilities.

These people might otherwise be unable to work if they have to travel to   an employer’s premises every day.

Flourishing People work with businesses to advise them on how best to support their staff, and how using flexible working practices such as home working can be hugely beneficial to employers as well as to their staff.

Jacqui acknowledges,  “I strongly believe that Flourishing People would not have survived if we hadn’t been home based. The likelihood is that I would have had to shut up shop completely whilst undergoing treatment and then try to reignite the business again from scratch.”

Flourishing People provide HR and people development support to businesses throughout the East of England. For more information please contact:  0845 0945 400   http://www.flourishingpeople.co.uk

The Remote Worker Awards highlight how remote and home working benefits the environment, business productivity and employees’ quality of work life.  0844 800 8355  paula@remoteworkerawards.com