Turning 65 brings a decision many people postpone: keep Original Medicare and add a Medigap policy plus a stand-alone Part D plan, or switch the whole package over to a private Medicare Advantage plan.

Boeing retirees facing that choice are often weighing a second layer too, whether their coverage is an employer group retiree plan set up by a former employer or union, or something purchased individually on the open market.

Original Medicare plus Medigap and Part D, or a Medicare Advantage plan instead?

Under Original Medicare, the government handles Part A (hospital care) and Part B (doctor visits) on its own, a Medigap policy then fills in much of the coinsurance and deductibles that remain, and a stand-alone Part D plan covers prescriptions.

A Medicare Advantage plan bundles Part A, Part B and usually drug coverage into one private policy.

That private policy must cap yearly out-of-pocket spending on in-network care at $9,250 for 2026, or up to $13,900 combined for PPOs covering both in-network and out-of-network services; Original Medicare by itself sets no such cap.

Either path still runs through the same Part B premium, pegged at $202.90 monthly for 2026 and higher for anyone whose 2024 income exceeded $109,000 filing single or $218,000 filing joint.

A Medicare Advantage member keeps paying that premium even after joining the private plan.

Employer group retiree Medicare Advantage versus an individually purchased plan

Some retirees get Medicare Advantage or Part D coverage through a group arrangement a former employer or union set up specifically for its retirees, rather than shopping for an individual plan.

Under that arrangement Medicare typically pays first on claims and the retiree plan pays second, and a retiree usually has to carry both Part A and Part B to collect full benefits from the retiree plan.

Boeing retirees should ask their benefits administrator which category applies to them before assuming an individually purchased plan works the same way a group retiree plan does.

What can go wrong if a retiree drops an employer group plan for an individual plan?

Signing up for an individual Part D plan, or an individual Medicare Advantage plan the former employer did not arrange, can end a retiree's group health and drug coverage for themselves and any covered dependents.

That lost coverage is often impossible to get back once it lapses.

Employers and unions are also free to change benefits, raise premiums, or drop retiree coverage altogether at any time, so coverage that looks settled this year is not locked in permanently.

Medigap timing: open enrollment and the trial right

Buying a Medigap policy without medical underwriting is simplest during the one-time, 6-month window that opens the month a retiree first carries Part B at 65 or older; outside that window, an insurer can generally medically underwrite the application.

A retiree who tries a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time at 65, then changes course within 12 months, gets a federal trial right to return to Original Medicare and buy any Medigap plan sold in the state without medical underwriting.

That application has to go in 60 days before the Medicare Advantage coverage ends, or no later than 63 days after it ends.

Some states extend that trial right further, so it is worth a call to the state insurance department before the window closes.

A short checklist for comparing plans

• Pin down whether the coverage on the table is an employer group retiree plan or an individually purchased plan, since the rules above hinge on that distinction.
• Line up the plan's in-network out-of-pocket maximum against the federal ceiling, $9,250 for 2026 and $9,850 for 2027 plans chosen this fall, and check the combined figure ($14,800 for 2027) if the plan also pays for out-of-network care.
• Ask whether the plan includes Part D coverage; a Medical Savings Account plan carries none and requires a separate drug plan.
• Mark the enrollment window that applies: the Annual Open Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7 each year, and anyone already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan gets a second chance to switch between January 1 and March 31.
• Put the Medigap decision date on a calendar, since both the 6-month open enrollment window and any 12-month trial right close permanently once they pass.

Boeing's group Medicare Advantage plan for retirees

Boeing retirees who qualify for company retiree medical have one more choice to fit around those dates. Boeing replaced the Boeing Medicare Supplement Plan with a fully insured Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO, the MAPPOESA, effective January 1, 2024. Eligible SPEEA-represented and Boeing non-union retirees get the same plan and premiums, but SPEEA's September 2026 contract summary says only members last hired before 2007 currently qualify for subsidized Boeing retiree medical. Find out if Boeing still offers the plan on the terms of the 2023 agreement that set it up.

Retirees need Medicare Part A and Part B to enroll in Boeing's group Medicare Advantage plan. Retirees without Part B at the 2024 transition were kept on a separate, international-address version of the older plan instead. The $0 monthly premium held through 2025, then rose to $58.91 per person a month starting January 2026 after Aetna cited funding and regulatory changes. Add Boeing's premium to your own Part B premium and compare that total with an individual plan.

Boeing retiree medical differs by union and location

Not every Boeing retiree group reaches that plan the same way. IAM District 751 and W24 machinists are among the last Boeing groups to keep retiree medical coverage under their ratified 2024 contract. Starting January 1, 2026, those retirees gained the option to join the same Aetna Medicare Advantage plan, limited to the Puget Sound region. Find out if your union or work location changes whether Boeing's plan is open to you.