A Stupid Question About Insurance Benefits.

[FlashHarry]

I can't believe I'm asking this three years after I joined the company.

I have around $90 deducted for health insurance each paycheck. It's good insurance--a PPO with cancer care, long-term care, etc. Is this typical in the corporate world? (up until now, I've freelanced, providing my own insurance) And when they say they "offer health insurance," does that mean that the employee typically pays for it? My girlfriend pays about half that for a basic non-corporate plan. Do companies typically "match" your payments--i.e. they pay half of the costs? Where, exactly, is the benefit?

And, finally, should I shop around for private coverage?

Sorry for being such an idiot about this. I've never really given it much thought before.

[LincolnMcGrath]

1. Never paid for healthcare

Hope I never have to.

[NC_Nurse]

2. sounds like a good deal to me

Lots of companies pay only part of your insurance, esp. when it's good insurance. Is you paycheck bi-weekly? If it's every week, that's a bit much.

[FlashHarry]

3. bi-weekly

So, when corporations say they "offer insurance," they're really only offering a group deal on insurance? Sounds a bit duplicitous to me. But, then again, I do work for an advertising agency...

[Kat45]

4. Yup. That's the deal.

I think companies used to pay all or a large percentage of it, but as it has become more expensive, they've required higher payments from employees. Considering the way companies are acting these days, it sounds like you have a pretty good deal.

[madrchsod]

5. depends on how old you are,

past medical problems,etc. you could get the same insurance for around 450-550. if you have insurance thu your company it is almost impossible for an isurance company to cancel your policy..stick with your company plan.

[Nikia]

6. Sounds like my insurance

Even though I am paying that much every 2 weeks, the company pays 75% of the cost. Since my husband and I are fairly young, we probably could get cheaper insurance but it wouldn't be as good. It is easier just to go with the company plan since it covers most everything even though it means that I have to go to certain doctors who seem incompetent. I think that a company paying 50-80% is the norm.

[Ramsey]

7. Sounds like a good deal

I pay three times that for me and my husband, and I work for a hospital! Your employer is probably covering some of the cost, but that amount varies widely. The cost of private insurance also varies widely depending on your age, medical history and geography. My guess would be any private insurance with the same good benefits you describe would be hundreds of dollars a month. You might be able to find something cheaper, but it would undoubtedly be really crappy coverage. Your benefits office can answer all of these questions specifically.

[SW FL Dem]

8. Sounds good to me

My husband's firm doesn't pay anything towards our health insurance. It costs us $870/ month (pre-tax) for family coverage for a decent PPO.

[prolesunited]

9. Unbelievable!

:wow:

That's more than my monthly mortgage. How in the world do you make ends meet?

[SW FL Dem]

10. We are lucky

We live in a small house and drive older cars that are paid for. We're debt free other than our mortgage. My husband's job is stable and pays well. I don't know how the others do it.

[LincolnMcGrath]

11. That is Larceny

Ridiculously high priced health care!

[dr.strangelove]

12. Sounds great in you are in the NE

Average HMO costs for a single ranges throughout the country. No state has an average cost less than $150 (Mississipi was the lowest in the January 2003 issue of Managed Care Magazine, sorry, can't find a link, but I can scan the chart if you want).

In NY the average singel MCO plan is $40 per month. Then your employer is paying over 75%. My employer pays almost 75% of my family plan, I pay $180 per month. However, the non-lawyers in my firm get their coverage for free. I think that is unusual though.

Anyway, $90 per month for healthcare is pretty good.

[LincolnMcGrath]

13. Sorry, $90.00 a month is a pay cut.

First it was deductibles, Then it was co pays....


Less coverage + more cost for you = pay cut

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. If you're having ONLY $90 deducted from your paycheck

that's a good deal these days. You can bet that the employer is paying at least as much as you, maybe more.

If you were shopping around for private insurance, well, here are my two latest experiences:

1) HMO at $250 a month. No deductible, but $20 copays for exams and $25 copays for tests, as well as $500 deductible for hospitalization.

2) Currently $161 a month with a $1000 deductible and 20% copays after that. Believe it or not, that is the BEST deal I could get as a self-employed person my age.

[CanuckAmok]

15. FlashHarry, aren't you DGA?

They have a great program...I thought you were a member.

[bratcatinok]

16. I'm covered by Medicaire and a supplemental policy

I am medically retired from a big bank. Prior to my becoming eligible I was covered for 2 years by the annuitant plan the bank offered. It cost me 217.00 a month and was an HMO plan. I liked it since it covered the PCP I had been going to for 10 years.

Now that Medicaire is my primary coverage I was forced to choose a supplemental plan offered by the Bank. It's a 'traditional' 80/20 plan with a 400.00 deductible, 2500.00 out of pocket before they pay 100% and it costs me 225.00 a month.

Both plans cover prescriptions. I had been told by the Bank that when I became eligible for the supplemental plan it would cost about half of what I had been paying for the HMO. Bah!

I do need the supplemental plan because my medications would cost me in the neighborhood of 800.00 a month if I didn't have the supplemental.

Oh, the cost of both insurances is decreased by the amount the bank contributes based upon the number of years I was actively employed by them. The costs I quoted is after Bank contributions.

[geniph]

17. Back before the Big Blues went for-profit,

most companies paid all of an employee's healthcare coverage premiums. But then the hospitals went for-profit, and the Blues - Blue Shield, Blue Cross, et cetera - followed suit, and strangely enough, that led to huge increases in healthcare premiums. Imagine that. Nowadays, even a good company rarely pays full premiums for a "traditional" (patient choice) medical plan. A single person can often get full coverage for a PPO, but a family is SCREWED. The cheapest family coverage my employer offers is $800/month. The most expensive is $1200/month. The employer covers about $400 of that. To cover just me and my husband on the cheapest non-high-deductible plan offered costs me almost $300 out of pocket every month.

I could go high-deductible and save $1000/year, but if one of us went to the hospital, we'd have to pay the first $1500 out of our own pockets, and we just don't have it. My husband's self-employed, so we depend heavily on my insurance coverage. It would cost him considerably more to buy his own plan as opposed to being part of my employer's group coverage. Insurance in this state is so high that for a time, private insurers did not even offer individual policies here.