Nina Krammer:
Just to, to start out by way of introduction, can you tell me your name once more, maybe where you're from, and a little bit about your employment background.
Ken Mengel:
My name is Ken Mangel, um, live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, uh, 30 and a half years. Um, in communications business, I was a network manager, uh, managing the outside plant engineering for the corporation in, in central Pennsylvania.
Nina Krammer:
How old were you when you retired from there?
Ken Mengel:
I wa I was, I considered young, 55 and a half. The, the corporation made an offer and, uh, I wasn't ready to retire, but it was a, it was a pretty nice offer and that was, um, well, I'll be 75, so it was 20 years ago, actually, it was 20 years ago in November. And, uh, can't say I'm sorry, I retired. <laugh>.
Nina Krammer:
Okay. So, so while you've been retired for 20 years as an early retiree, obviously this was before even the individual marketplace existed. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um, yeah. So tell me a little bit about how long ago did your employer transition you?
Ken Mengel:
The first year retirement, I got this letter back in like June of year, they went to Via benefits. I stowed it away a healthcare file, and then I got an email saying, you know, it's time to choose, you know, your Medicare options for, for the following year. And they said, you, you have received, you should have received notification. I said, oh, yeah, I got a letter. And so I went and pulled the letter from the file and said, wow, this is legit. Because, um, I I, I liked what I read in the letter.
Nina Krammer:
What was your general impression once you came on board?
Ken Mengel:
I, I was very impressed. I, I just couldn't believe the, the numbers of plans that were available, to be very honest though, I didn't understand any of it. And, and that's not from a standpoint that it wasn't good information being provided. I didn't understand what was the best options for me as a retiree.
Nina Krammer:
Your employer continued the HRA, the health reimbursement, and that covered most, if not all, of your plan premium when you became Medicare eligible?
Ken Mengel:
Yeah, when I first started it was, uh, it was right. I think I had my out-of-pocket was somewhere around 30, $40 a month. When I first went in, they said, okay, because you're new to this plan, we're gonna give you a discount. And that discount decreased every year and it is still decreasing. And, uh, so each year the, the premium would go up for the same plan, but it didn't go up a whole lot.
Nina Krammer:
Have you ever taken advantage of our coverage checkup tool to evaluate your plan each year to see if there's another plan that's comparable and what it offers, but might be at a lower cost?
Ken Mengel:
I don't know it by that name, but, uh, each year when I would, would log into the account, because they had all your scripts in there. So I had to update, you know, all the information. They asked you all the questions about, um, is there any other coverage that you're getting is, the different idea that you have to go through that checklist every time
Nina Krammer:
You can use coverage checkup either on the website, online or by calling and, and speaking with a benefit advisor. And they can go through that with you. I don't know if you've ever called in for something like that. Yeah,
Ken Mengel:
I, and it's only because I didn't trust myself and what I was reading. I, I doubted that using my own knowledge of, of all the different plans I was reading because, you know, there was like 50 some different plans that were available. So then the first, first many years, you know, I would always call and say, here's what I picked. Am I making the best of, of the money available? You know, make sure I didn't lose that and is this the plan for my wife and I be, 'cause at the time, and, and, and even to this day, we still do a fair amount of traveling and we've been overseas almost every year. So I wanted to make sure that I had some kind of, you know, coverage that if I did go overseas and, uh, so I, I would always call and say, what do you think of this <laugh>?
Nina Krammer:
You mentioned that you're married. Have you found that there's, um, ever been an opportunity for you and your, your spouse to be on separate plans or are you on the same plan? Is that important to you?
Ken Mengel:
It, it is important to me and it seemed easier to keep us on the same plan and I, I just didn't see any reason why Kathy should have been on a, on a separate plan. Just to clarify though, we have different prescription drug plans. Both of us take very few. We're really quite healthy, but all her, uh, prescription drugs were generic, so, and I just picked up a, a script, a 30 day script for, it was $4 with her, with her plan. And a lot of times it's zero. In fact her, she pays more for the plan than she does for the medications during the year.
Nina Krammer:
One of the other questions that came up for me while you were speaking earlier was when you were calling in and you felt maybe a little uncertain about all of your choices and that you were making the, the best choices. I guess it's a two part question. Did you ever feel any kind of pressure to select any particular plan? Um, and the follow up question to that is, when you did make that decision, did you feel confident in the plans that you were choosing?
Ken Mengel:
Uh, number one, no. I did not feel pressured. I, I felt, uh, the, the customer service rep that I dealt with, I felt that a, a pretty, uh, a good job of balancing all the different plans. So I didn't feel pressured, unfortunately, my personality, you know, I always second guess <laugh>, but, uh, I can't say I've ever been dissatisfied between the course of the year with the plan that I picked.
Nina Krammer:
Do you feel that your benefit advisor was knowledgeable in the information that was presented or was there ever, I know you said that you never feel fully confident, but was it due to any lack in knowledge or confidence that the benefit advisor was able to relate to you?
Ken Mengel:
No, no. I thought they were very well versed in, in, in the field. And I, I didn't have any questions about, about their lack of knowledge. I thought they did a fine job. But I looked all the plans and, uh, you know, being, I was in the, uh, what they called outside plan engineering department. So as an engineer math guy, I made charts. So I, I knew copays, I had charts of everything, um, to just to make sure I was, you know, picking the best plan for my wife and I, you know, for our security and, and peace of mind. Because the only thing I was really concerned about is, is over the last couple of years with my wife and I going to specialists, I seem to be getting these little bills.
Ken Mengel:
In other words, you know, every year I go to the eye doctor and they do the dilation, they do all things. Well, then I'd get a bill for $18 and 28 cents for, you know, dilating the pupils. And then, you know, a couple weeks later I get another bill for $7 and 19 cents for the, and I seem to be getting more of that this past year. Then I had previously. So then I thought, well, if I go to a upgrade from a K to an N and it, and, and it's a better plan in terms of, of copays and, and coverage, we, you know, we go out of country and, and they had some benefits for being out of country that the K didn't have. It was a better plan, but it, the prices went down. I, I'm a wealth of knowledge. I got all kinds of information available last year. I was paying up to, uh, yeah, $249 and 56 cents a month. Was, uh, subsidizing that by 169. So it was cost me 70,
Nina Krammer:
80 bucks. 70 bucks. Yeah.
Ken Mengel:
Now it's 203, so it's 49, 40 $5 cheaper a month. And
Nina Krammer:
It's, it makes a big difference. It adds up month over month. Oh,
Ken Mengel:
Absolutely. I mean, you know, I'm gonna play a lot of golf. That's a, that's round of golf every week.
Nina Krammer:
I was gonna say, or, or, or a plane ticket to somewhere exciting <laugh>. Yeah. Whatever's important to you.
Ken Mengel:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah I, I feel very, very fortunate. People can't believe what I'm paying for healthcare. And what's surprising is, is one of my friends, he's been having a lot of health issues and his wife has, has, uh, said cancer several times and, and, and has, uh, very serious health issues. And their corporation went to, to Via and 'cause we started comparing. The, I think the prices might have been different. And we were, we were kept comparing plans. But to go to the plan, he went to a, a G plan, I think it was, it was a much more expensive for me. A pretty rich plan from a monthly standpoint. And the number of specialists I'd go to, because I only go to, I guess three with the eye doctor, pulmonologist, cardiologist, um, you know, once or twice a year a specialist cost you $20 a month for this plan, I believe. Even if I went to all three of 'em twice 60, it was $50 a month to go to that plan. So I figured it's, it doesn't benefit me to be in that plan.
Nina Krammer:
So tell me, because you know, you just mentioned the, the one friend of yours who, who's also just recently had their employer switch over to Via Benefits, but, uh, you do obviously know plenty who don't have access. What would you tell to an employer or a plan sponsor who's considering an individual marketplace, like Via Benefits as they're making their evaluations, if it makes sense for their retirees?
Ken Mengel:
The benefit of this really gives me tremendous amount of, of flexibility and, and the huge number of possible plans to choose from. I mean, when, when you first, the first time I looked at it, I, I, I have to admit, I was really overwhelmed. But on the positive side, you know, now the employee isn't stuck with, with what you're providing, they can tailor to fit their specific healthcare needs and what they see, you know, having to them in the future, what would benefit them the most. For the employee, for the retiree, I think this is, this is a much better option to give those choices.
Nina Krammer:
It's an interesting point you bring up choice and how important choices, despite it potentially being overwhelming to start with, did, do you feel, or do you feel that you're supported
enough with what Via benefits offers to make that choice manageable? Or on the flip side, thinking more generically not to use specifically go with fewer choice, a standard 1, 2, 3 plans on the group and let it just be a one size fits all just to make it easier. How would you talk to that? How would you speak to that if that's the debate that the employer is having between choice and customization and flexibility versus making it easier, just one size fits all?
Ken Mengel:
Well, what I would say is that the, the people at, at, uh, Via Benefits were very, very helpful in narrowing down. You could say that, okay, forget all this, forget the A plan, forget the C plan, forget the L plan. They don't apply to you. But I felt over the years, as I got more accustomed to it, I knew which plans I could eliminate immediately. So now you're, uh, eliminating three quarters of measly. And I knew there's certain ones that didn't want because my specialist might have been outside of that. And I don't wanna go to plan and have a special, uh, cost that I have to pay because, you know, he or she is not in that plan. So, I would, I would address it from that standpoint that it's easy to narrow down. And I would also suggest to, to people, make sure you, the Medicare book that you get every year, you know, read that book. Pick the parts that, that are important to you. There, there's parts there that, okay, I don't need that, I don't need that, I don't need that. So I, I narrowed in the one page that had all the supplemental plans.
Nina Krammer:
Well, I really appreciate it. I've enjoyed this conversation very much. It's always great to get to, to speak with the people that, that we serve. So thank you so much.
Nina Krammer:
You've been listening to Eye on 65, a podcast by WTW. For more information on via benefits and the solutions we provide, visit optimize retiree benefits.com. That's optimize retiree benefits.com.
