AZ State Retirees only offered shitty Medicare Advantage plans

The state retirement system (ASRS) offers its retirees a choice of two Medicare Advantage plans: a PPO or a network limited HMO, both from United Healthcare. It is one of 12 states that only offer Medicare Advantage.

For 2025, the monthly premiums for the PPO increased from $114 to $199/month. The HMO will have a $96 monthly premium.

The plan looks okay on paper, but unlike most Advantage plans does not include dental (that can be purchased separately), but it does not seem to any better than similar plans that retirees could obtain for little or no additional monthly premium. And then there' United Healthcare's reputation for denying claims.

I'm not opting into this mess.

But also upsetting is the complete lack of pushback on this. There do not seem to be any organizations that represent retired state government workers. I have found no news stories or editorials about it. No one in the legislature seems to be questioning this. You would think a state retirement system with 500,000+ participants and 160,000+ retirees could negotiate a better deal.

My location is represented by the most extreme Uber-MAGAs in the state, but I may contact them to see how they feel about it. Especially since they are covered by ASRS.