Let's talk about health, baby!

[ODB_PE]

One of my biggest concerns is the cost of my healthcare plan, since my wife stays at home with 2 children. Most places seem to pay for the employees health care, but I hear mixed things when it comes to family benefits. Currently I pay $600/month for a limited HMO for my family.

My pre-engineer life consisted of working for a large, national company with decent benefits. (Employee+Family ~$300/month)

It is well known that large companies get a huge break from the underwriters. Also, there are extreme differences from state-to-state.

So I am asking the following:

What does your firm charge for spouse+children?

What State?

What size of company?

Thanks in advance. I plan on using this information come head-butting time.

 

[frazil]

wow, $600/month is a lot! I pay about $200/month for family insurance. The company puts in about $580/month. I have a federal blue cross & blue shield.

 

[jfusilloPE]

What does your firm charge for spouse+children?

Too damn much! I opted, for the first time ever to get involved in a HDHP plan with an HSA. My current family plan only costs $80/month and I add $250/month into the Health Savings Account that is interest bearing. I was never really a fan of the HDHPs until I researched them pretty well. Our other plans (HMO and PPO) are roughly $500-$600/month.

What State?

I am in Florida, but our company headquarters is in Phoenix, AZ.

What size of company?

We have about 700 employees nationwide. The funny thing is that I worked for a huge global firm, and the rates were not much better.

I spoke with an agent before about getting my own privatized insurance, and the cost was astronomical! He began to tell me that the biggest problem with health insurance is that the rates are based upon the previous years usage, and since most plans don't have a pre-existing clause, some companies get beat up.

 

[Guest]

ODB --

FWIW - I have heard that is about the going rate for health insurace on the private side.

Much like frazil, I work for govt so my health insurance is $180/mo - don't recall my employers match. It is Florida BC/BS - State PPO (20% co-pay in-network provider, 40% co-pay for out-of-nework provider). I also have options for a few HMOs and medical spending accts.

At the beginning of the year, we are switching to my wife's insurance based on my anticipated departure from my current employment. With her, it is a bit more - $140/twice per month for health (HMO).

Good luck with negotiating a better rate or pay raise to cover health insurance!

JR

 

[benbo]

I work for the State, California. I pay about $230 a month for me, my wife and kid. THey pay about $1000. That's for Blue Shield HMO. There are cheaper and more expensive plans, such as a more choice limited HMO or a PPO.

As an old geezer I can remember when I worked for Hughes Aircraft in the 80s early 90s. For a while, they paid all the health insurance, plus a defined benefit retirement plan AND a 401K with a $2 match for every $1 I put in up to around 8% of my pay. It was insane. No wonder they ended up laying off a bunch of folks.

 

[jroyce]

I have Highmark Blue Shield and they have two plans set up. One plan has a high deductible ($1000/person) and a low monthly premium and the other one is a low deductible ($500/person) and a high monthly premium.

Family coverage:

HDLP - $108 monthly

LDHP - $188 monthly

I am in PA and I don;t know the company match.

 

[ClemsonEngr]

Health for employee and spouse is covered by my employer. BCBS. We are a small company in florida.

 

[Jennifer Price]

What does your firm charge for spouse+children?

[SIZE=10pt]DENTAL INSURANCE – [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]Preventative – No Deductible, 100% Covered[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]VISION CARE – [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]Max Benefit of $200/Employee Per Calendar Year, No Deductible, 50% Covered[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Medical Insurance – [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]$100 Deductible/Person/Calendar Year (Max $300/Family Unit/Calendar Year), No Premium[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]What State?[/SIZE]

North Carolina

[SIZE=10pt]What size of company?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]125 Employees[/SIZE]

 

[kevo_55]

We just got the talk for our insurance this morning.

I work in a small/mid sized company, (~250 people) in Minnesota. Our plan provider is Medica.

Our new plan this year is a HRA. (High deductible with a seperate reinbursement account) For this, it costs $520 per month for a family.

If you get single coverage, my company pays the monthly fee.

Does anyone have any experiance with a HRA? I'm thinking about doing it this year.

 

[FusionWhite]

I have insurance which only covers me. Cost is $100 a month which is pricey IMO for a non-smoker, young, healthy male. My wife has insurance through her fathers company and through her job she takes a flex package which we use to cover our deductables.

 

[MA_PE]

What does your firm charge for spouse+children?

My contribution is ~$250/mo. Company contributes ~$950/mo.

What State?

MA

What size of company?

We 're a consulting firm with ~350 people nationwide (~200 here in MA)

 

[Flyer_PE]

Company size - 10 Full time, 20 part time.

Location - Illinois

Health Insurance premium: $1635/mo - Family Coverage

The only saving grace is that it's pre-tax.

 

[SSmith]

I pay about $200/month for family insurance. The company puts in about $580/month. I have a federal blue cross & blue shield.

These stats look just about the same to what I get through the government. FYI, they recently added a section to our paystubs to show "what the government pays for us" each pay period. I was pretty shocked that health insurance was so high.

 

[jfusilloPE]

Health insurance will never change until the politicos remove themselves from the pockets of the insurance industry. Since PAC contributions are so high to all political parties, things will never change. I believe that even if we get some type of "universal health care system" premiums will still be outrageous, but only for those who contribute (who are you and I)...

 

[Guest]

I believe that even if we get some type of "universal health care system" premiums will still be outrageous, but only for those who contribute (who are you and I)...

I believe that is the sad conclusion at the end of the day. Anyone who thinks that all of the major insurance providers, excuse me - managed health care professionals, will step to the side and take a bite in thier business is insane.

Ideally, I think universal health care is the right thing to do. I don't think the right political or moral climate exists in order to achieve a goal that retains the quality of healthcare and doesn't sink your pocketbook.

:2cents:

JR

 

[Flyer_PE]

The trick with nationalized health care for me is that it's just more government control being inserted into a system that is as screwed up as it is due to the magnitude of government involvement. Part of the reason the premiums are so high is because we've become so lawsuit happy in this country that the financial risks of doing anything are outrageous. Once they allowed lawyers to take cases on contingency, all downside financial risk for the plaintiff was removed. No matter how your own behavior is to blame for a perceived wrong, you can find a lawyer that will file suit in the hopes of striking big money out of the deepest pockets available. Whether you win or lose, the defendant has legal bills to be paid. The only thing your lawyer is out is his own time. He can just keep filing these things until he manages to convince a jury somewhere that you deserve some outrageous amount of money (he gets his share of course) since the guy that built the saw failed to warn you strenuously enough of the dangers of disabling the safety mechanisms.

If the government fixes the price that can be charged for health insurance and the costs of the claims exceeds the income from the premiums, who makes up the shortfall?

Another little detail that seems to be overlooked is that the quality of the service will decline. This will happen automatically if a monopoly is established for health insurance. As soon as your option of taking your business to provider B is taken away, provider A can treat you as badly as they wish. Considering recent negative headlines regarding treatment of soldiers by the VA, the VA is government supplied health care.

Rant off.

Jim

 

[SSmith]

I think the natural progression for Health Care industry will follow what has happened with retirements. First there were pensions that have been replaced by 401k's entirely. Now where there is predominantly premium based insurance, my guess is in 10-15 years it will be completely flip-floped with HDHP and other similar plans taking their place as 401k analogues.

 

[ODB_PE]

Company size - 10 Full time, 20 part time.
Location - Illinois

Health Insurance premium: $1635/mo - Family Coverage

The only saving grace is that it's pre-tax.

That is absolutely horrible. $20K/year! What's up with that?

The curious thing is that I have heard that Illinois is one of the best states to get healthcare because of something to do with the state laws. Until now, that was supported by the fact that one of my buddies works for a firm based in Chicago (though he lives in TX) his healthcare is great and his cost is ~$200/month for family. His explanation was that the firms HQ is in IL.

The health care thing is spiraling out of control - my politics skew to the right, and I'm not a proponent of Universal Health Care - but the lawsuit factor and greed of the drug/insurance companies has got to be put in check. It seems like you get penalized for being responsible in this country.

(carrying health insurance when you're healthy and taking out a mortgage with a fixed interest rate that you can afford - but that's another soap-box for another day)

 

[Dark Knight]

$1684 a month for a family plan. I pay $118 and the company the rest.

You are not going to believe this but on my first job out of college I paid nothing for the health insurance and it was great. In 1993 I had to bring my son to Florida to an open heart surgery and the plan covered 80% of the costs. When I contacted the Doctor to make a payment schedule for the difference he told us to forget about that. God bless his heart wherever he is now.

 

[frazil]

This is a good thread!

What is an HDHP plan?