Medicare and the UUA Health Plan

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Health Plan offers a Medicare Supplement policy for qualified age 65+ retirees and for age 65+ active employees. For qualified retirees, there are no special requirements other than being enrolled in Medicare parts A and B. For active 65+ employees, the situation is somewhat more complicated.

A qualified retiree refers to those who were enrolled in the health plan prior to retirement.

Here is a summary of Medicare Supplement Plan F Benefits (PDF).

Please contact us at insuranceplans@uua.org for premium estimates.

Medicare makes a distinction between employers who have more than 20 employees versus small employers who have fewer than 20 employees.

Congregations with More Than 20 Employees

UUA Health Plan participants must stay on their current Standard PPO Plan or High Deductible Plan. Their congregation's PPO plan is their primary coverage, and there is no eligibility (and no need) for a Medicare Supplement plan. The employee would still have Medicare part A, but Medicare would pay AFTER their employer's PPO plan. The employee could enroll in Medicare part B, but they are not required to do so while still actively employed, and there is little financial advantage to doing so.

Congregations with Fewer Than 20 Employees

Active 65+ UUA Health Plan participants would have Medicare part A automatically, would elect Medicare part B, and could sign up for our Medicare Supplement Plan (which provides Plan F benefits). In this case, Medicare would pay FIRST (or "primary") and the UUA Medicare Supplement would pay SECOND. To do this legally under Medicare rules, participants must follow a few easy steps:

  • Their congregation must create and sign a Medicare Waiver Letter (Word doc), which must be completed PRIOR TO coverage becoming effective.
  • Participants currently on the UUA Health Plan will request this health plan change via the Benefits Change Form. They will be required to upload a copy of the completed Medicare Waiver Letter and a copy of their Medicare card reflecting part A and part B.
  • If an employee is not currently a UUA Health Plan participant, they may sign up for the Medicare Supplement via our Online Enrollment Form and state that their "qualifying event" is "loss of other coverage."

How Long Can I Retain My UUA Supplemental Plan?

The answer is: indefinitely. The only caveat here is if you cancel your coverage, you cannot re-enroll, unless you are re-hired by another participating congregation or organization.