NOTE FROM GARRY FIX SDRTA COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
When I retired in 2007, it was relatively easy to decide what to do about extended health care plans. Stay on ASEBP until age 65 when you were no longer eligible for their coverage and then migrate seamlessly to ARTA's plan. Make a couple choices about which plan you wanted and you were good to go.
As with so many things in life, the passage of time has complicated things. ASEBP saw that there was money to be made in this area and now offers coverage to retirees AFTER they reach the age of 65.
I have had a few SDRTA members ask questions about their best choices. Since I'm not qualified to answer that, I reached out to Gary Sawatzky, ARTA Chief Operating Officer
I asked Gary for some help in this area. My questions and Gary's answers follow:
SDRTA Question:
Do all teachers still stay on ASEBP and then make a choice at age 65?
In light of ASEBP providing their own retirement plan, we rolled out new plans a few years ago specifically for people who retire prior to age 65 (we refer to those plans as our “Comprehensive” plans). They are designed specifically for people under age 65; for example, a few of them provide higher prescription drug maximums since the Alberta Coverage for Seniors plan doesn’t cover people until they turn age 65. One of the plans also offers Orthodontics for dependent children.
SDRTA Question:
This year we have SDRTA members approaching the age of 65. That raises some important questions:
1. Will they automatically be notified of "choices" they can make at age 65 regarding their health insurance?
They will not be contacted by ARTA as we do not have access to their contact information or know who they are, unless they enrolled in ARTA 101 membership, which is the membership we have for active teachers which we have been advertising at teachers’ conventions and in the ATA Magazine for the past two years. If this is the case, we will be in touch with them. They will otherwise be contacted directly by ASEBP informing them of the ASEBP plan only.
2. I looked briefly at ARTA's website and could not find a direct comparison between ASEBP and ARTA health plans after age 65
Is such an online comparison available?
Yes, there is a comparison of benefit plans on artabenefits.net. If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is a section called “Compare Plans”. Click on the “Benefit Plans” link, which will give you a description of each of the plans offered by ARTA. There is also a link on this page called “ARTA & Competitor Benefit Plans – Comparison Chart”. ASEBP is one of the competitor plans, but they are anonymized.
This is a big decision; we suggest SDRTA members and new retirees do some research on this matter before they make final decisions.
A good starting place for such research is https://www.artabenefits.net/
Personal note; when I saw that ASEBP was now offering insurance to "us old folks", I checked it out. I discovered that in the case of ASEBP Emergency Travel Benefits, ASEBP's plan has a 90 day stability clause. If there are ANY changes to your health, including minor changes to prescription doses, you are not covered.
ARTA's plan does not include this stipulation; if your doctor says you are okay to leave the country, ARTA has your back. This ASEBP stability clause alone was enough for me to stay with ARTA. You will want to make decisions that are best for you.
Cheers,
Garry