3M will be ending the company health insurance plan that it offers to it’s employees who are retirees. The company feels that these former employees will get a better deal is they are able to shop on the open market for health insurance. This means that many retired employees of 3M are going to be looking for health insurance on their own for the very first time.
I am among the many Americans who does not have health insurance. The last time I had health insurance was over a year ago, when I was working for an employer that included health insurance as part of the benefits of the job. When I became unemployed, my health insurance disappeared. Since then, I have done quite a bit of research about health insurance. I read news articles daily that discuss the current changes in health insurance. My husband and I visited with an insurance agent to see if we could afford to get health insurance through their company. I have learned that it is tedious, confusing, and very time consuming to try and find your own health insurance. I also learned that, at least for now, health insurance is more expensive than I can afford.
Retired employees of 3M will soon be going through a similar experience to mine. 3M, the company that makes post-it notes, has decided to stop offering health insurance to it’s employees who have retired. This is in direct response to the new health reform law. 3M is one of the first large companies who have reacted in this way, and we can expect to see many more doing the same in the near future.
Why are they doing this? 3M says that health care options in the market have become better under the health care reform laws. They feel that their former employees should be free to research these new options, and potentially get a better deal for themselves than what 3M can offer. It is worth noting that this kind of move is one way that a large company can save the money it is spending on benefits for it’s retired employees. 3M has 23,000 retired employees.
The result is that thousands of retired 3M employees are finding themselves in the market for health insurance for the first time in their lives. Some feel that since 3M has taken good care of them so far, that this change will ultimately be a good thing. Others have serious concerns, and lament losing what has been described as “a very good health program” for an unknown and yet to be determined health insurance policy. 3M will be giving it’s retired employees some money to use to purchase individual health insurance.
Image by Katy Warner on Flickr