These employers offer retired employees Medicare Advantage

On Aug. 10, Judge Lyle Frank permanently blocked the implementation of an Aetna Medicare Advantage plan, though New York City Mayor Eric Adams plans to appeal the decision. 

The yearslong struggle over the $15 billion contract, which would have been one of Aetna’s largest contracts in company history, is a high-profile example of a nationwide trend. 

In 2022, half of employers who offer retirees health benefits do so through Medicare Advantage plans, up from 26 percent in 2017, according to KFF.

Though more employers are opting for Medicare Advantage, a declining share of employers offer healthcare benefits to retired employees. In 1988, 66 percent of large firms offered healthcare to their retirees, according to KFF. In 2022, just 13 percent of employers offered retirement benefits to their employees. 

According to KFF, around 44 percent of employers offering Medicare Advantage only offer MA plans, while the remaining 56 percent offer MA and Medigap options. 

Here are some employers offering Medicare Advantage plans: 

1. IBM switched its retired employee benefit program to a Medicare Advantage plan administered by UnitedHealthcare at the beginning of 2023. 
2. AT&T offers retired employees a Medicare Advantage plan administered by UnitedHealthcare. 
3. American Airlines switched its benefits program for retired flight attendants to a UnitedHealthcare-administered Medicare Advantage plan beginning in 2021. 
4. California offers retired state employees Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare supplement options. 
5. Arkansas began offering Medicare Advantage plans administered by Health Advantage (BCBS Arkansas) and UnitedHealthcare at the beginning of 2023 to retired state employees, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. 
6. Illinois offers Aetna-administered Medicare Advantage plans to retired state employees. In 2023, the state contracted with Aetna as its sole plan administrator, after previously offering Humana and UnitedHealthcare plans. 
7. The University of Michigan will switch its retired employee benefits from Medigap plans to Medicare Advantage beginning in 2024. 

According to a KFF survey, cost was the most common reason employers cited for switching to Medicare Advantage plans. 

In New York City and elsewhere, some retirees have decried proposed Medicare Advantage plans, concerned about narrower networkers, and the possibility of burdensome prior authorization requirements. 

Here are some employers that have put MA plans on pause: 

1. Delaware paused implementing a three-year Medicare Advantage contract for state retiree benefits with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware, after a judge blocked the state from moving forward. 
2. Washington paused a decision on a potential Medicare Advantage plan for retired state employees until 2024 after hundreds of retirees voiced opposition to the plan, the Olympian reported.