Leaving Shell – Health Insurance

Retiree Health Insurance Case Studies:

Pre-2006: https://newheightsplanning.com/shell-retiree-health-insurance-pre-2006/

2006 – 2016: https://newheightsplanning.com/shell-retiree-health-insurance-2006-2016/

Full Transcript:

I’m leaving Shell. What are my options for health insurance?

Many people will be leaving Shell over the next year, especially as the company works to reduce its overhead. When leaving Shell, there are a ton of considerations to make, and I’m going to do a video series to focus on some of those considerations. One of those, of course, is health insurance. When leaving Shell, your health insurance options will depend on your unique situation. Let’s walk through a few of them.

First, you want to understand if retiree health coverage is an option for you. In order for it to be an option, you, of course, have to be eligible. And then if you are eligible, you want to understand what the benefit is. Your eligibility is based on your age and your points. So if you have attained at least age 50 and have 80 points, you’re likely eligible for Shell’s retiree health insurance.

Now, if you get let go during a re-org and get a special severance, then you may be able to qualify with 70 points as long as you still reach age 50 and have at least 20 years of service. Now, your benefit is based on when you hired on. So, if you started with Shell before 2006, you will get the best benefits under the retiree health coverage.

If you hired between 2006 and 2016, you can still get retiree health insurance, but it’s not quite as good as the previous batch. I did a full series of videos on deep diving into hypothetical scenarios for these cases. So, I encourage you to go watch those to understand what the full benefit is. Now, of course, if you’re hired on after 2016, unfortunately, Shell retiree health insurance is not an option for you.

Now, of course, when leaving a company, another coverage that comes to mind is Cobra. When leaving Shell, you have to pay your premium plus Shell’s portion of your premium and a Cobra surcharge. So, you get to maintain your coverage for a given period of time. That coverage is expensive. If you’re on the high deductible health plan, that’s over $2,000 per month for family coverage.Now, of course, Cobra is also only available for a short period of time. It is not a permanent solution.

In terms of permanent solutions, a couple of options are of course, if you did a new job or your spouse works for a company that has employee health insurance options. With your new job, of course, you’ll want to maintain coverage between your separation from Shell and your benefit commencement date, and likely Cobra is a good short-term option for you.

Of course, if your spouse works for a company that provides employee health insurance, this is another great option with your separation from Shell. You will likely qualify for a change in life status or life event, and then you and your family can enroll with your spouse’s health insurance.

Now, if you do not have employer coverage and you’re not eligible for Shell retiree coverage, you can also look at the Affordable Care Act, frequently called Obamacare. With the Affordable Care Act, you then go onto Healthcare.gov to select which plan you want and who’s going to be covered under that plan. Now, with your separation from Shell and not having other employer coverage, you will get immediate eligibility for the Affordable Care Act plans. The cost of the plans varies drastically based on which plan you select and who all is covered. And what you’ll find is that for most of them, they are cheaper than Cobra, but you may not like the benefits as much. So, I encourage you to review these diligently to make sure you’re selecting the best plan for you.

If you have questions on health insurance, I encourage you to reach out to me. And also, please watch the rest of this video series and considerations for leaving Shell.