Medicare Eligible CTA Retirees Can Beat The Double Dip!

By Guest Blogger Almar R. Thomas (Retired CTA Bus Mechanic, ATU Local 241)

This valuable information may impact your “Bottom-line,” depending on if you understand it, and if you apply it. We have all heard that “Knowledge Is Power,” but that is not necessarily true. 

Knowledge is Power Only, when it is APPLIED! Here is the information that if you apply it, Will Add Dollars to your bottom line!

Number 1: You Must be Medicare Eligible, and on CTA’s Retirees Medicare Group Plan. Humana for 2023. (Note, if you have a spouse that is on the plan with you, your spouse must also be Medicare eligible.)

Number 2: You Must be receiving your monthly Social Security Benefit Check. 
Here is the hitch. The Social Security Administration deducts your Part B Premium for Medicare coverage from your Social Security benefit check BEFORE it hits your Direct Deposit. This year’s handbook for 2026 the Part B Premium is $202.90 every month.

This is the premium payment for your Medicare Part C Medicare Advantage Plan, including Dental, Vision and Hearing. This little detail is often overlooked, by CFP's, Certified Financial Planners, Tax Preparers and Accountants. That is why so many people end up paying twice, or getting “Double Dipped”. 

That is all. It's not Rocket Science!

Number 3: To determine your monthly savings, look at your Earnings Statement mailed to you from Northern Trust. Add up your medical deduction amount, including dental. That total is the amount that will be added back into your pension check, and you can stop getting “Double Dipped.”

The reason that you can do this is because you as an “employee” were paying both Medicare and Social Security Taxes from your very first paycheck when you were young. Do the math yourself. The amount that could be going back into your pension check every month could and most likely adds up to thousands of dollars per year!

As I have shared with Financial Service Agents that | have had the pleasure to work with and teach over the years, as well as the many clients that | have been able to serve, over the last 30. 

Although companies and products have changed, one thing has not. That one thing is this, “It’s not about how much money you make...but how much of it you get to keep"!

Brother Almar is an LUTCF, Senior Market Advisor who can be reached at (773) 510-8075. The opinions expressed by guest bloggers here or in Shop Talk newsletter are not necessarily the opinion or sanctioned policies and actions by Brother Eric Curtis Muhammad Basir, ATU Local 308 members, elected leadership or stewards. In the spirit of the First Amendment and the ATU Obligation, all CTA workers and supporters are welcome to submit content of any point-of-view for this blog. Real identities will be hidden upon request.