Retiring at 62

You'd either pay for it yourself or get Cobra. If she was in a union, she may get medical coverage after retirement with enough years on the job. You can't get Medicare through a spouse. You could only get coverage through a spouse if they were still working and had family coverage available through their job.

The ACA worked for me.

R2, as a retired nurse, she's probably making too much to use the ACA marketplace. Without subsidies, it's the same as buying your own insurance outside the marketplace.

She was in a union. She mentioned that (and how little nurses were paid before the hospital she worked at got a union.)

Then she's probably getting insurance at least partially covered until she reaches Medicare age if she was in a union.

I retired at 55 and I'm still covered by my employer's insurance. I get a subsidy of about $300 per month and my cost is about $300 per month. I'll stay on this plan until I turn 65 and move to Medicare. I'm lucky my employer allowed this for retirees. Subsequent to my leaving work, the retiree plan was modified and now current retirees get no subsidy, but can still get insurance through the company. A friend just retired and he's now paying $600 per month.

I've had an ACA policy since retiring at 62. Medicare for me starts in December of this year

I teach college and will retire the end of the upcoming academic year at 62. My institution pays its part of my medical insurance until I'm 65--I pay the contribution to it that ordinarily comes out of my paycheck. The only exception is if you take a new job that offers insurance benefits. I think it's one way of encouraging people who wish to retire before 65 to do so--they aren't stuck with faculty waiting it out at higher salaries (not that our salaries are particularly high, given national averages for college teachers).

Most employers that offer both health insurance and retirement plans that allow for retirement before age 65 have some kind of provision built in to fill in the gap period. The Federal government is even better -- you can keep your employer-sponsored health benefit at the same rate as when you were employed forever-- and you don't even need to buy Medicare Part B.