FOR
THOSE BECOMING
ELIGIBLE FOR
MEDICARE IN 2010,
these
pages are
intended to be
especially helpful .
|
Help
Others by
Volunteering for
the Benefits Team
»
Pending changes
in legislation
and regulation
may require
retirees to
revisit their
decisions and
possibly consider
new Medicare
options. If you
have human
resources
experience,
please join the
Benefit Team and
help your fellow
retirees in these
important
decisions.
Send
an email to benefits@lucentretirees.com
|
»
Be sure to
do the following right
now! Your decision is
important to both your
healthcare and your
financial well-being.
(1)
Register yourself
on the Alcatel-Lucent
benefit web site at
www.resources.hewitt.com/alcatel-lucent/
so that you can stay
current with your
Alcatel-Lucent
coverage.
(2) If you are
Medicare eligible,
register yourself at MyMedicare.gov
so you can stay
current with your
Medicare coverage.
(3) Be sure
to review all the
material listed
below. In addition to
the option of staying
with Alcatel-Lucent,
check with more than
one provider of
Medicare Advantage or
Medicare Supplement
insurance.
»
If
you become
Medicare-eligible in
2010...
-
You should
receive a package
from Medicare that
includes the
current version of Medicare
and You. Use
the attached for
keeping notes
as you go along.
And there's a
comparison chart
for you to fill in,
from AARP.
And check the other
[TABS] on
this page for other
source material.
The LRO Benefits
team has created a
slide show to help
explain the many
choices. Check
here to download
it.
-
Start by
visiting the medicare.gov
web site. It
provides many links
so you can find
vendors and costs
of various Medicare
plans. You should
also read and
familiarize
yourself with other
Medicare guides,
including the
following (these
are lengthy to
print out, so ask
for a paper copy
from Medicare).
-
Medicare
Medigap plans (also
called Medicare
Supplement
Insurance
plans). Also,
read the
attached
description
from AARP.
Note the
comment
"can I be
refused
coverage"
at the bottom.
Your access to
Supplemental
insurance may
have
limitations
when you are
older than 65.
-
Medicare
Advantage plans
(also called
Medicare Part C
- including
commercial
Private-Fee-for-Service
[PFFS] plans
similar to the
SecureHorizons
MedicareDirect
plan being
offered by
Alcatel-Lucent.)
-
Medicare
Part D drug
plans (also
called
Prescription
Drug Plans (PDPs)).
Data for 2009
is available.
-
Local
Help: For local
help with your
decision,
almost every
state has a
help group
group that will
provide
assistance on
the choices you
have to make.
Find your State
Health
Insurance
Program at [TAB]
State Help.
-
Insurance Company
Performance: J.D.
Powers, a well-established rating company, provides Health
plan Ratings for many of areas of the country. Click
here to read their ratings.
-
Alcatel-Lucent mailing:
You will
also receive a
Medicare guide from
Alcatel-Lucent that
offers its own
health care and
prescription drug
plans. A number of
retirees have
reported that
commercial Medicare
plans offer better
value, so be sure
to check and
compare the
Alcatel-Lucent
offer with what's
available at medicare.gov.
»
How
the Benefits Team Home
Page is organized. There
are [TABS] above
that can be clicked to
provide you with
specific information to
help you in your
decision process. One
of your most important
decisions is whether to
continue with
Alcatel-Lucent offered
health and prescription
drug plans, or to use
commercial plans. The
LRO Benefits Team
doesn't take a position
on these two options -
other than to provide
you as much information
as possible for you to
reach your own
conclusion.
The
[TAB] How to Use
Guide provides
detail information on
how to compare health
plans. The [TAB]
Plan Checklists provides
specific Checklists for
you to enter both
Alcatel-Lucent data and
data from other plans
that you will have
considered from the [TAB]
How to Use Guide. The
other [TABS] provide
useful supporting
information for your
effort.
|
| |
|
TABS
on this BENEFITS TEAM
HOME PAGE
|
|
Tab name
|
| Recent
Events |
Recent Medicare or
Alcatel-Lucent
information that you
should be aware of. |
|
How
to Use
Guide
|
Download
the
various references to
learn how to find plans
and how to compare them
for you and your
family's individual
needs. |
|
Plan
Checklists
|
Find
the items that you need
to compare plans from
health care insurers
and from Alcatel-Lucent
by downloading the
Checklists that apply
to you. When completed,
you will be in a better
position to choose
which plan to use in
2009 based on quality,
services and costs. |
|
Rx
Plans
|
Provides
references to Rx plans
so that you can
consider alternatives
to Alcatel-Lucent's
plan, which has some
changes in 2009. |
|
Sources
|
Provides
a listing of phone
numbers and web sites
from Alcatel-Lucent and
others, to answer
questions or get
information. |
|
About
Us
|
Shows
who's at work on
Benefits topics and
invites you to join and
help out. It explains
what the LRO Board's
goals and objectives
are. |
Back to
top
» MORE
PLACES TO VISIT
The LRO
Benefits Advice web page is a
good place to visit for up to
date news and information. Click here.
There's
a very thoughtful paper by the
LRO on what to do for a
retiree's survivor. Read "Planning
for the Unexpected."
And as always provide your
feedback by sending an e-mail.
» Please
note that this information is
provided from many sources that
appear to be credible but does
not represent a recommendation
by the LRO for any specific
course of action by you. Thanks
for visiting and we look
forward to serving you.
LRO Healthcare
Survey Results – Insurance
Alternatives
The
LRO conducted a follow-up
Healthcare Insurance Survey
with those LRO members who
noted in the LRO Opinion
Survey early in 2007 that
they had found alternatives
to the healthcare insurance
plans offered by
Alcatel-Lucent. Because
insurance plans vary from
state to state, the LRO is
providing a summary by state
of the healthcare insurance
carriers that some of your
fellow Lucent retirees have
chosen to use. Click here
to view the
survey results.
