Retiree health plans pay secondary to Medicare for anyone 65 or older, even if the retiree never enrolled, leaving the uncovered gap as the retiree's responsibility.
Skipping Part B exposes retirees to all physician, outpatient, and in-hospital doctor costs, which Medicare would cover at 80% after a $283 deductible for $203 monthly.
Late Part B enrollment adds a permanent 10% premium penalty per missed year, meaning a retiree who skipped at 65 and re-enrolls at 68 pays 30% more permanently.
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A 68-year-old retiree walks out of a three-day hospital stay expecting his former employer's retiree plan to handle the bill, the way it always has. Weeks later, the explanation of benefits arrives. The plan paid a fraction of the charges. The rest, thousands of dollars, winds up on his lap.