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Retiree Medical
Focusing on a Healthy Retiree Medical
Click here for history of Retiree Medical benefits
For any member who wants to retire before age 65, early retiree medical is critical. Without this essential coverage, members would pay the high cost of medical premiums at a time when they may need it the most and are living on a fixed income. This benefit will be even more important for our younger members who may have the Medicare eligibility age pushed up to 67 in the coming years.
Boeing has made no secret of their desire to eliminate this benefit for new hires and to reduce the benefits for others. Boeing pushed for this in 2002 and 2005. Only through membership solidarity and a 28-day strike were we able to preserve this benefit for new hires. In fact, since our 2005 strike, other payrolls at Boeing have had this benefit eliminated for their new hires.
Keep in mind during the 1992 negotiations, Boeing forced a new formula into the contract for calculating the retiree medical benefits. Employees hired after 1/1/93 earn the retiree medical benefit at 3 1/3 percent per year of service. At that time, this change was imposed on all payrolls and all Unions at Boeing. Since that time, Boeing has eroded or eliminated this benefit altogether for many Boeing employees. The IAM is one of the ONLY units to maintain this benefit and insist that our members have the option of early retiree medical.
After working for decades, every member should have the option to retire when they choose after age 55 and before Medicare kicks in. In shop floor meetings and surveys, members have made retirement a top issue -- yet it can only occur before age 65 if we retain this benefit.
It's our time, this time to preserve and improve early retiree medical, but it will take a united and determined membership.
In corporate America today, their goal is to drive down costs everywhere possible, including the area of providing adequate medical care for retired employees! The trend to eliminate this coverage must be stopped. In 1988, over 66 percent of large firms (200 or more workers) offered retiree health coverage compared to just 33 percent in 2005.
Boeing is very profitable. We cannot allow Boeing to shift additional burden and costs onto our retired members living on a fixed income -- the ones who are least able to handle the skyrocketing costs. Nor can we allow Boeing to eliminate this benefit for future retirees.
It's tragic when you're facing an illness in your senior years and instead of receiving get-well cards, your mailbox is full of medical bills you cannot afford to pay! Tell Boeing we must maintain retiree medical for current and future retirees -- we've earned it!
The Union is also exploring ways to offer retirees a Medicare supplement (once they are age 65). It is something the benefits committee is investigating to help eliminate some of the stress of sifting through the dozens of plans offered in the state.
Retirees Speak Out on Retiree Medical
When you talk to any member who has retired before the age of 65 (when Medicare kicks in), they are quick to point out that retiree medical benefits made the early retirement possible. Without this benefit, those on a fixed income simply could not afford adequate medical coverage.
751-member Paul Fox was able to retire at age 57 with 34 years at Boeing. "I could not have retired as early without having this medical coverage," Paul noted. "Unless someone plans to work until age 65, early retiree medical is the only way to retire before Medicare kicks in. It is a benefit we have fought for in the past and certainly one worth fighting for in the future. You can't put a price on getting to enjoy more years in retirement."
Member Michael Mai retired last December at age 57. He noted, "Because of the early retiree medical coverage, I could retire before Medicare kicked in. The most important thing in planning retirement is medical. Without early retiree medical, I would have had to stay working at Boeing."
Member Helen Lowe shares that sentiment as she now is looking for a Medicare supplement to purchase before her next birthday. "I had no idea how much Boeing medical coverage cost until I started researching the various Medicare plans. With so many Medicare supplements to chose from, it is complicated and confusing."
Helen understands it is a benefit we must fight to keep. She added, "I worked for National Airlines, which went bankrupt so there was nothing left of my retirement there. I'm still waiting for coverage from my years of working at AT&T. I appreciate having the retiree medical benefits, which allowed me to retire before I qualified for Medicare."