Medigap Cuts Leave Retired Nurses Worried And Betrayed

Beacon Kalamazoo, formally known as Borgess Hospital, has sparked a bit of controversy as it is ending a healthcare benefit for hundreds of retired nurses that would give them financial reimbursement for their medical insurance.

Hundreds of retired nurses who have given many years of service to the hospital will end up paying thousands of dollars more each year for healthcare, as allegedly, Beacon Kalamazoo will no longer be honoring a lifetime benefit called Medigap, which would reimburse these nurses for their healthcare coverage.

Many nurses who are retired, like Linn Crutcher, told MI Nurses how betrayed she feels by this decision after everything she gave for so long:

I gave 38 years to the hospital, taking care of other families, sometimes leaving sick babies at home to go to work. I feel I’ve earned this benefit. Taking away this health care coverage is a slap in the face and a financial burden that many of us seniors will have a hard time absorbing.

Medigap has been a critical program for these nurses, providing them with nearly $2000 a year. Getting rid of the program will increase the amount that is coming out of pocket now for Linn; what she says will cost $2700 to keep her insurance now that she’s not collecting that money.

These are people who are retired and living on a fixed income, people like Judy Harris, who is 83 and worked for 27 years at the Kalamazoo Hospital:

I feel betrayed, like I’ve been discarded. Losing this benefit is a $2,000 additional expense every year that is not in my budget. I put so much into that hospital and now they’re reneging on the promise they made.

Why they're ending this program, I have yet to discover.