A Teamster on His Health Care Plan

RUSH: James in Atlanta. It’s great to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.

CALLER: Hello, Rush, it’s an absolute pleasure.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: Hey, yes, I was calling, I’m a retired Teamster and veteran, and I try to talk to people. You know, the unions have some of the best insurance there is, and they’re all going to lose it. Because right now when you turn 65 you lose your insurance. You go on Medicare. They kick you right over to the government dole, and they’re trying to up the age now, I know, from 57 to 62. If anybody wants to see how socialized medicine works, all they have to do is go down to a VA and see who you get assigned to and what happens down there. The companies, if they get a chance to pay, you know, a penalty…

RUSH: Well, now, you know, I’m curious about something here. You’re talking about the Teamsters specifically?

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: I didn’t think the Teamsters had anybody that worked beyond age 40.

CALLER: (laughs) Well, no. No, you gotta be… Well, it depends on your years of service, but right now, 57 and 30 years in the trucking industry part.

RUSH: Yeah?

CALLER: To be able to retire.

RUSH: But you do? You lose your health care at age 65?

CALLER: Correct. You lose your health care at age 65. They’ll be more than happy to send your company over.

RUSH: No, I’ve never heard that.

CALLER: You do. Once you hit 65, you lose your insurance.

RUSH: Now, how long have you been retired from the Teamsters at age 65?

CALLER: Well, I retired early, because I had the years, because I started early.

RUSH: Okay. But my point is very few Teamsters are still working at age 65, right?

CALLER: No, there’s quite a few still working because right now to keep your insurance you have to be at least 57 and have 30 years of service.

RUSH: What?

CALLER: And most… Yeah. You have to have that.

RUSH: None of this is making any sense. Unions have the biggest Cadillac insurance, health insurance deals in the country.

CALLER: But in each union, you’ve got to remember, this is for the South-central states. In each area for the Teamsters… In the trucking part, now, is what I’m talking about.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: You have a northern division, western division. They’re all separate. The pensions are even separate. They’re not all together.

RUSH: They’ve assumed you guys are profile because you live in Georgia?

CALLER: Could be, because most of us are.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: But there’s probably 40 to 50% of Teamsters that vote conservative, especially down here in the South.

RUSH: I know. Look, my beef is not with the rank-and-file. You get communists running SEIU and the Teamsters and so forth. No bones about it. Anyway, I appreciate the call, James. There’s something else that we gotta research. ‘Cause I didn’t know that. You lose your health care at 65 and go on to Medicare.