Health insurance question...

[beno44]

My girlfriend currently pays $509 a month for her sons health insurance.. she is a school teacher, they pick up 100% of hers, 0% of her sons.. is there any reason to stay in the group policy and pay that much?? Or look into the plans I see from BCBS for $150-$210 a month??

 

[maxaroni]

Only one way to find out, compare the policies. If in NJ, my gut feeling would be to stick with what she has as the policy is most likely much better than what she would get. The premium may be more but your potential outlay of copays and such is much lower.

My girlfriend currently pays $509 a month for her sons health insurance.. she is a school teacher, they pick up 100% of hers, 0% of her sons.. is there any reason to stay in the group policy and pay that much?? Or look into the plans I see from BCBS for $150-$210 a month??

 

[adudeinblue]

My girlfriend currently pays $509 a month for her sons health insurance.. she is a school teacher, they pick up 100% of hers, 0% of her sons.. is there any reason to stay in the group policy and pay that much?? Or look into the plans I see from BCBS for $150-$210 a month??

It depends. BCBS is an insurance company that has a lot of different plan/policy types. Could you tell us more about the plan and policy? EPO/PPO/HMO/HSA etc. Even if it's an HMO plan, it might be different than other HMO plans in the same insurance company because it depends on how well the employeer negoitated the prices for the policy packages.

It's not uncommon for a policy to cover the primary person 100% and they expect contribution for additional dependents.

 

[teller80]

There was a point when my kids were on a totally separate insurance plan than I was. If I were her I'd keep the plan that covers her and just price one to cover the son.

 

[amylevan]

You have to sit and compare everything: co-pays, deductibles, maximum out-of-pocket limits, etc...

Too many variables for a straight yes or no from a message board.

 

[tvguy]

You have to sit and compare everything: co-pays, deductibles, maximum out-of-pocket limits, etc...

Too many variables for a straight yes or no from a message board.

Exactly. But off the top of my head. $509 seems on the low side to me for dependent coverage.

 

[pookybean]

She can also look into CHIP coverage depending on her sons age. He may qualify for a plan that she will pay less for or they may refund some of what she pays out.

 

[beno44]

Thanks everyone.. she is a little frustrated, she only get about $400 a month in child support from her ex a month, and health insurance alone is over $500.. seems crazy

 

[DebbieB]

One thing to look at is family deductibles and out of pocket maximums if on one policy.

 

[coinkc]

From what you describe, I was in the exact same situation as your friend. I also teach and my district pays 100% of my plan but to add my daughter it would have been well over $400. One of the reasons is that they viewed it as "employee +1" rather than "employee + child". So they were counting her as an adult since I didn't have another adult on the plan.

I got her an individual child policy from BCBS and she had it for the past 15 years. Over time, the rates have increased of course but is still no where near what it would cost to add her to my policy. I even had a better plan for her than myself as far as coverage and co-pays because she was a dancer and was prone to injuries. Now she has an individual adult plan and still costs less than what I would pay if she were a dependent on my plan.

 

[havaneselover]

Sounds pricey, but it's so dependent on the state. I'm a 38 year old female and the total cost of my gold plan is $400/month. I could add both of my kids for about $400 (they are covered by my ex but if I did cover them I would half to pay for 100% of their coverage in addition to 50% of mine).

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Sounds pricey, but it's so dependent on the state. I'm a 38 year old female0and the total cost of my gold plan is $400/month. I could add both of my kids for about $400 (they are covered by my ex but if I did cover them I would half to pay for 100% of their coverage in addition to 50% of mine).

$800 a month for a premium. When/If my health insurance premiums exceed my mortgage payment, I will have to throw in the towel. And I do believe that day will come sooner or later.

 

[Callie]

Mine is about $300 for independent coverage. Not sure how old the child is, but shop around. That is for a silver plan with $10 copays for primary care, and $5 prescriptions.
Also compared deductibles, co-insurance and max out of pocket!

 

[havaneselover]

$800 a month for a premium. When/If my health insurance premiums exceed my mortgage payment, I will have to throw in the towel. And I do believe that day will come sooner or later.

That's really not unreasonable. It would be $600 for me as my employer pays $200. And that's tax free so there's an additional savings of $150 or so. So my net cost would be about $450.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

May not be unreasonable for you, but it would be for me and my family.

 

[Scootypuffjr]

I was in this exact same position a few months ago. The district picked up all but $30 of my insurance, but none of my son's ($593/month). I called the health insurance provider directly and asked what it would be to keep the same plan for my son and pay out of pocket. I now pay $196 for him and I even upgraded his plan to the next one up. Totally worth the switch IMO.

 

[havaneselover]

May not be unreasonable for you, but it would be for me and my family.

I guess I don't care whether or not it's "reasonable." It costs what it costs, so I work my budget around it. I don't know what you mean by throwing in the towel, but I can't really stress too much about what's pretty much out of my control.

 

[barkley]

I would just advise to have her look to available providers with any plan she's considering. one of the major issues in our area with these plans is while they publicly list a decent amount of local providers, many are not taking patients and have not in years (and that gets esp. difficult if there's a specialty provider that your child needs to see).

 

[Sadie22]

Many people do not investigate further, assuming they only have the one choice when they may have several. It is important to consider all options. Those who don't know how may be able to get help from local agencies which can help navigate available government programs as well as private insurance and help with making informed decisions.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks everyone.. she is a little frustrated, she only get about $400 a month in child support from her ex a month, and health insurance alone is over $500.. seems crazy

Obviously not sure of the situation here, but if this cost of health insurance for her son has not always been this expensive then she may need to get her child support guidelines reevaluated. Child support takes into account who carries the child and the cost of the health insurance. So if it jumped recently, she may be able to get more in support to cover the cost of that.