Latest news with #COBRA
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
Don't Sever Your Medicare Coverage With A Severance Package
It seems a month doesn't go by without hearing from someone who made a Medicare enrollment mistake. In the past, I have addressed the big problems that COBRA continuous coverage can create for those who work past age 65. Now, it's time to deal with a COBRA cousin that is just as dangerous – a severance package. A severance package is a bundle of benefits offered to employees who lose their jobs, due to termination, lay off or buy out. It often includes financial compensation, and continuation of some benefits, such as health insurance, for a certain period of time. The big question for those who accept this package: Must I enroll in Medicare? The answer is fairly straight forward but often difficult to understand or implement. The first opportunity to enroll in Medicare for most people is at age 65, during the Initial Enrollment Period. However, those who are still working and have an employer group health plan can delay enrollment if they qualify for a Part B Special Enrollment Period (SEP). This is an eight-month window for enrolling without penalty or delay. This SEP has two important criteria that create confusion when a severance package appears. 1. The group health plan is based on the current employment of the individual or spouse. The italicized words are the ones that tend to create confusion. Current employment means working as an employee, not just working and collecting a paycheck. I spoke to a 69-year-old man whose status was changing. He was going to continue doing the same work and have the same health coverage but, next month, he would become an independent contractor. HR and insurance representatives said it was legal for him to have the coverage. And because he would still be working, he believed he does not need Medicare now. The legality of the coverage is not the issue; it is his employment status. An independent contractor is considered self-employed; he does not have an employer. So, the health plan is not based on his current employment (it is just a benefit) and he needs to enroll in Medicare now. 2. The eight-month window begins with the first day of the month after the last day of employment or coverage, whichever comes first. A recent client had a buyout of his company shares in November 2024. His severance package included 12 months of insurance and a paycheck every two weeks – same deal he had as a shareholder of the company. His financial advisor recommended he start checking out coverage for December 2025. He didn't feel any urgency but his advisor said the process takes some time. He made an appointment for July 25. He now realizes how lucky he was. His employment ended November 30 and his Part B SEP began the next day. His Part B enrollment deadline was July 31. He had only six days to submit his application. If he had waited until his coverage ended in November, he would have missed his window and could not enroll until the General Enrollment Period in January. He would have had at least a two-month gap in coverage. One Tip to Avoid Trouble Want to prevent problems when continuing with a severance package after age 65? Sign up for Part B so it takes effect as soon as the employment ends – no matter how long you continue to work or when the severance package benefits end.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Venus Williams receives wild card entry for US Open mixed doubles at 45 years old
Venus Williams is 45 years old and about to play in a Grand Slam again. The longtime tennis star received a wild-card entry into the mixed doubles field of the US Open on Tuesday, the tournament announced, setting her up to play alongside partner Reilly Opelka at Flushing Meadows. She will be joined by several other stars in the field, including Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek. When she takes the court, it will be Williams' first appearance at a Grand Slam in any field since the same tournament in 2023, where she entered the singles draw via another wild card and was eliminated in the first round by qualifier Greet Minnen. Since then, Williams has been mostly inactive while going through health issues, including a surgery to remove uterine fibroids. She made her return last week at the D.C. Open, where she won both a singles and doubles match for the first time in 2016. Williams surprised former NCAA champion Peyton Stearns, then ranked 35th in the world, in the first round of the singles draw before losing to fifth seed Magdalena Fręch in the second round. Opelka, Williams' doubles partner, is currently 74th on the ATP Tour's men's singles rankings. He is 27 years old and notably tied for the tour's tallest-ever player at 6-foot-11, which gives him one of the nastiest serves in tennis. Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion, with seven singles titles, 14 doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles. She played her first US Open in 1997, when she made the singles finals at 17 years old. She has nothing to prove at this stage, but raised some eyebrows last week when asked why she decided to return to tennis in her mid-40s. Venus Williams is doing this for the health insurance (sort of) At the end of her first-round post-match interview, Williams provided a small peak behind the curtain of how professional athletes go about healthcare, revealing that she was actually on COBRA, which allows employees to stay on their employer's health insurance after losing benefits. Here's what she said: 'I had to come back for the insurance, because they informed me earlier this year I'm on COBRA. So that's like, I got to get my benefits on ... You guys know what it's like. Let me tell you, I am always at the doctor, so I need this insurance.' To be clear, Williams was joking there. She said it all that with a smile and called it a "fun and funny moment" after her second match. However, many people and outlets took the statement quite seriously, with some of them using it as a jumping-off point to discuss broader healthcare issues. It is true that health insurance coverage is an issue for many retiring athletes. Active professional athletes get some of the best health insurance in the world for obvious reasons, and having to figure out coverage after retirement is a challenge for many people who just exited the most lucrative stage of their lives. While clarifying the tongue-in-cheek moment following the second match, Williams said in the same breath that it was a "serious issue" and one "that people are dealing with." With $42.7 million in career earnings from her WTA career and likely much more than that from her endorsements, Williams isn't one of those people (barring astonishing financial mismanagement). Given the choice, she will take the WTA's insurance because it gives her one less thing to worry about, but it's a stretch to say she is still playing because she needs the insurance.
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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Health
- Business Standard
Venus Williams' health insurance comments: What athletes need to know
Venus Williams' recent singles win at the DC Open showcased her longevity and brought attention to health coverage for aging athletes following a joking comment she made in an on-court interview. "I had to come back for the insurance," the five-time Wimbledon champion said after Tuesday's match, her first in 16 months. "They informed me this year that I'm on COBRA, so it's like, I got to get my benefits on." The 45-year-old Williams, who has won seven major singles titles in her career, became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in professional tennis with Tuesday's victory. After losing on Thursday, she acknowledged that her comment on health insurance was a "fun and funny moment." The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, more commonly referred to as COBRA, allows Americans to stay on their employer's insurance plan for a limited amount of time after leaving their job. It comes with high costs. Williams' comment led to questions about health insurance in the sports world. For most active professional athletes, partially or fully subsidised health insurance is provided by their league or governing body and guaranteed in their collective bargaining agreement. A CBA is an agreement reached between a league and its players that guarantees certain levels of player compensation and benefits, and can be renegotiated every few years. So when athletes are playing, they're usually covered. But Williams, coming back to the sport after a 16-month hiatus, brought to light how long that insurance lasts or doesn't last for athletes when they're not playing. Women's Tennis In the WTA, the governing body of the women's tour, players are eligible to enroll in the health insurance plan if they are ranked in the top 500 in singles or top 175 in doubles and have played a minimum of three WTA 250 level or above tournaments that year. If players are in the top 150 in singles or top 50 in doubles, the WTA will pay a portion of the premiums. If a player is no longer eligible under those requirements, they can enrol in COBRA for up to 18 months, which is likely the situation that Williams was referencing. That is also the WTA's only option for retiring players. "Nobody wants to be on COBRA, right? Williams said after her second-round loss on Thursday night. That remains an issue in my life Obviously (the interview was) a fun and funny moment, but it's an issue that people are dealing with, so it is serious." Men's Tennis The ATP provides health insurance to men's tennis players who rank in the top 250 in singles or top 50 in doubles. All other players with a ranking point are given the opportunity to purchase health insurance through the ATP's provider. For retired players, the only option is COBRA for up to three years. Golf As an individual sport without a CBA, golf tours vary. They do have a group insurance plan that is available to active members of the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champions (the tour for golfers over 50) and the Korn Ferry Tour (the feeder circuit for the PGA). For players who meet certain "performance criteria," including how many tournaments they played and how often they won, the PGA will partially subsidise the plan. In retirement, players are responsible for their own insurance. Some players join the PGA Tour Champions after the PGA Tour and play into their mid-60s, during which they maintain coverage. Top players can receive a subsidy from the PGA in retirement. The LPGA Tour, the women's professional golf tour, started offering its players fully funded health insurance for the first time this year. Before this year, players were given a $4,000 stipend. NBA NBA players have access to one of the most inclusive insurance plans in retirement. If they played at least three years in the league, retired NBA players are eligible for fully-funded health insurance in retirement, and if they played at least 10 years, they will have healthcare covered for their entire family. WNBA WNBA players are fighting for retirement healthcare as part of their new CBA, which they are currently negotiating with the league. Those negotiations have been heated, and the most recent meeting between the two sides last weekend did not result in an agreement. One unique facet of the W's healthcare is that athletes who have spent more than eight years in the league can be reimbursed up to USD 20,000 a year for costs related to adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing or additional fertility treatments. NFL The NFL has less long-term coverage for retirees than most other team sport leagues athletes who played in the league for at least three years can remain on the NFL health insurance plan, but only for five years into retirement. NHL NHL players who have played more than 160 games with the league, which is about two seasons, are eligible to buy NHL health insurance for their retirement. The retirement insurance plan is eligible for partial subsidization from the league. MLB Baseball players who spent at least four years in the league have the option to pay premiums to stay on the MLB's healthcare plan indefinitely. Minor League Baseball has its own separate CBA, which also guarantees health insurance for active players. In the minors, however, players who get cut or leave the league lose coverage at the end of that month. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Business Standard
6 days ago
- Health
- Business Standard
After Venus Williams' remark, a look at athletes' health insurance
Venus Williams' recent singles win at the DC Open showcased her longevity and brought attention to health coverage for aging athletes following a joking comment she made in an on-court interview. "I had to come back for the insurance," the five-time Wimbledon champion said after Tuesday's match, her first in 16 months. "They informed me this year that I'm on COBRA, so it's like, I got to get my benefits on." The 45-year-old Williams, who has won seven major singles titles in her career, became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in professional tennis with Tuesday's victory. After losing on Thursday, she acknowledged that her comment on health insurance was a "fun and funny moment." The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, more commonly referred to as COBRA, allows Americans to stay on their employer's insurance plan for a limited amount of time after leaving their job. It comes with high costs. Williams' comment led to questions about health insurance in the sports world. For most active professional athletes, partially or fully subsidised health insurance is provided by their league or governing body and guaranteed in their collective bargaining agreement. A CBA is an agreement reached between a league and its players that guarantees certain levels of player compensation and benefits, and can be renegotiated every few years. So when athletes are playing, they're usually covered. But Williams, coming back to the sport after a 16-month hiatus, brought to light how long that insurance lasts or doesn't last for athletes when they're not playing. Women's Tennis In the WTA, the governing body of the women's tour, players are eligible to enroll in the health insurance plan if they are ranked in the top 500 in singles or top 175 in doubles and have played a minimum of three WTA 250 level or above tournaments that year. If players are in the top 150 in singles or top 50 in doubles, the WTA will pay a portion of the premiums. If a player is no longer eligible under those requirements, they can enrol in COBRA for up to 18 months, which is likely the situation that Williams was referencing. That is also the WTA's only option for retiring players. "Nobody wants to be on COBRA, right? Williams said after her second-round loss on Thursday night. That remains an issue in my life Obviously (the interview was) a fun and funny moment, but it's an issue that people are dealing with, so it is serious." Men's Tennis The ATP provides health insurance to men's tennis players who rank in the top 250 in singles or top 50 in doubles. All other players with a ranking point are given the opportunity to purchase health insurance through the ATP's provider. For retired players, the only option is COBRA for up to three years. Golf As an individual sport without a CBA, golf tours vary. They do have a group insurance plan that is available to active members of the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champions (the tour for golfers over 50) and the Korn Ferry Tour (the feeder circuit for the PGA). For players who meet certain "performance criteria," including how many tournaments they played and how often they won, the PGA will partially subsidise the plan. In retirement, players are responsible for their own insurance. Some players join the PGA Tour Champions after the PGA Tour and play into their mid-60s, during which they maintain coverage. Top players can receive a subsidy from the PGA in retirement. The LPGA Tour, the women's professional golf tour, started offering its players fully funded health insurance for the first time this year. Before this year, players were given a $4,000 stipend. NBA NBA players have access to one of the most inclusive insurance plans in retirement. If they played at least three years in the league, retired NBA players are eligible for fully-funded health insurance in retirement, and if they played at least 10 years, they will have healthcare covered for their entire family. WNBA WNBA players are fighting for retirement healthcare as part of their new CBA, which they are currently negotiating with the league. Those negotiations have been heated, and the most recent meeting between the two sides last weekend did not result in an agreement. One unique facet of the W's healthcare is that athletes who have spent more than eight years in the league can be reimbursed up to USD 20,000 a year for costs related to adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing or additional fertility treatments. NFL The NFL has less long-term coverage for retirees than most other team sport leagues athletes who played in the league for at least three years can remain on the NFL health insurance plan, but only for five years into retirement. NHL NHL players who have played more than 160 games with the league, which is about two seasons, are eligible to buy NHL health insurance for their retirement. The retirement insurance plan is eligible for partial subsidization from the league. MLB Baseball players who spent at least four years in the league have the option to pay premiums to stay on the MLB's healthcare plan indefinitely. Minor League Baseball has its own separate CBA, which also guarantees health insurance for active players. In the minors, however, players who get cut or leave the league lose coverage at the end of that month.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
After Venus Williams' comment on health insurance, here's what to know about athlete coverage
Venus Williams' recent singles win at the DC Open showcased her longevity and brought attention to health coverage for aging athletes after a joking comment she made in an on-court interview. 'I had to come back for the insurance,' the five-time Wimbledon champion said after Tuesday's match, her first in 16 months. 'They informed me this year that I'm on COBRA, so it's like, I got to get my benefits on.' The 45-year-old Williams, who has won seven major singles titles, became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in professional tennis. After losing Thursday, she acknowledged that her comment on health insurance was a 'fun and funny moment.' The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, more commonly referred to as COBRA, allows Americans to stay on their employer's insurance plan for a limited amount of time after leaving their job. It comes with high costs. Williams' comment led to questions about health insurance in the sports world. For most active professional athletes, partially or fully subsidized health insurance is provided by their league or governing body and guaranteed in their collective bargaining agreement. A CBA is an agreement reached between a league and its players that guarantees certain levels of player compensation and benefits and can be renegotiated every few years. So when athletes are playing, they're usually covered. But Williams, coming back to the sport after a 16-month hiatus, brought to light how long that insurance lasts — or doesn't last — for athletes when they're not playing. In the WTA, the governing body of the women's tour, players are eligible to enroll in the health insurance plan if they are ranked in the top 500 in singles or top 175 in doubles and have played a minimum of three WTA 250 level or above tournaments that year. If players are in the top 150 in singles or top 50 in doubles, the WTA will pay a portion of the premiums. If a player is no longer eligible under those requirements, they can enroll in COBRA for up to 18 months, which is likely the situation Williams was referencing. That is also the WTA's only option for retiring players. 'Nobody wants to be on COBRA, right?' Williams said after her second-round loss Thursday night. 'That remains an issue in my life. … Obviously (the interview was) a fun and funny moment, but it's an issue that people are dealing with, so it is serious.' The ATP provides health insurance to men's tennis players who rank in the top 250 in singles or top 50 in doubles. All other players with a ranking point are given the opportunity to purchase health insurance through the ATP's provider. For retired players, the only option is COBRA for up to three years. As an individual sport without a CBA, golf tours vary. A group insurance plan is available to active members of the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions (for golfers over 50) and the feeder Korn Ferry Tour. For players who meet certain 'performance criteria,' including how many tournaments they played and how often they won, the PGA Tour will partially subsidize the plan. In retirement, players are responsible for their own insurance. Some players join the PGA Tour Champions after the PGA Tour and play into their mid-60s, during which they maintain coverage. Top players can receive a subsidy from the PGA Tour in retirement. The LPGA Tour started offering its players fully funded health insurance for the first time this year. Before this year, players were given a $4,000 stipend. NBA players have access to one of the most inclusive insurance plans in retirement. If they played at least three years in the league, retired NBA players are eligible for fully funded health insurance in retirement, and if they played at least 10 years, they will have health care covered for their entire family. WNBA players are fighting for retirement health care as part of their new CBA, which they are currently negotiating with the league. Those negotiations have been heated, and the most recent meeting between the sides last weekend did not result in an agreement. One unique facet of the WNBA's healthcare is that athletes who have spent more than eight years in the league can be reimbursed up to $20,000 a year for costs related to adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing or additional fertility treatments. The NFL has less long-term coverage for retirees than most other leagues. Athletes who played in the league for at least three years can remain on the NFL health insurance plan but only for five years into retirement. NHL players who have played more than 160 games in the league — about two seasons — are eligible to buy NHL health insurance for their retirement. The retirement insurance plan is eligible for partial subsidization from the league. Baseball players who spent at least four years in the majors have the option to pay premiums to stay on the MLB's health care plan indefinitely. Minor-league baseball has its own separate CBA, which also guarantees health insurance for active players. In the minors, however, players who get cut or leave the league lose coverage at the end of that month.
