re: Question for older(ish) folks on here: what was standard health insurance like decades ago

My dad retired from Albemarle in the late 90s. He had medical issues he was dealing with until he passed away in 1998. I remember his work telling my mom "don't worry about anything. If there is a problem with the insurance we will take care of it". This was about 3 years before he passed away.

At his wake his coworkers were telling my mom that their health insurance was about to be changed dramatically. Signific increases in deductibles, they were eliminating a lot of things they cover, etc. It seems like companies used to be somewhat loyal to their employees and highly valued employees who been there a long time.

I can't speak for everyone, but it seems like in the 90s and into the 2000s is when things started to change..

I had company sponsored insurance. It was very low deductible at first. Then by the time I turned 65 it was high deductible. Now with Medicare I'm back to low deductibles and they swipe 250 bucks of my SS per month. When I was in my 20s and 30s insurance was sweet. But then I was never sick enough or infirm enough to need it.