Health insurance $$ thru employer

[Poohbear5]

that's just not going to work for us, so i'm not sure what we are going to do. i am hoping for some sort of high deductible, catastrophic plan to be offered. healthcare reform really is screwing us.

Same here. I sat and cried when I got our insurance memo this week. We've always had great employer insurance until the " health care reforms".

I had 3 hospitalizations this year along with MRI, CAT Scan and xrays and a major surgery. There is no way I can afford to keep up with a deductible debt on a credit card (19% due to the credit card "reform").

Not sure when the government starts the punishment payments for dropping it altogether, but might check into it for next year.

 

[MomToOne]

Many employer-offered plans are much better coverage than what you would get when you purchase an individual plan, and therefore they are more expensive. Plus, every employer is different in how much of the premium they expect employees to kick in. $1K/year for coverage of just yourself is actually not unusual in today's world.

 

[GalDisney]

Guess I was spoiled because the last time i had health insurance thru my employer, it didnt cost me anything, the company paid the premiums.

 

[DebbieB]

I'm paying $114 a month as a single for BCBS through my company.

 

[PatriciaH]

When DH was temping with Disney his health insurance was paid by the temp company and we paid $800 a month for me! I am very healthy too! Now his company pays all of ours. Thank God.

 

[Jeninindy]

$3500/year for family coverage at my employer....I think that the single people pay $50 pay period or $1300/year.

 

[j's m]

Self employed, $ 1600 a month for a family of 3 medical only

I'd be happy with $ 1000 a month.

 

[DisneyShannon]

I pay 100.00 a payday every two weeks. bad med coverage but wonderful med program I take 3 antidepressants twice a day that are very expensive insurance pays almost all costs.

 

[bumbershoot]

Self employed, $ 1600 a month for a family of 3 medical only

I'd be happy with $ 1000 a month.

If only per *month* is what she was talking about...

...I am paying over 1000.00 per yr...

 

[disfan07]

We are very lucky because my dad only pays about $3500/year towards our insurance for 4 people. At his old company he was paying $8000/year but the company he works for now is a gigantic company so that get better deals on insurance. Including our insurance costs, we pay about $23,500/year in medical expenses ($20,000 OOP expenses).

we pay $11,256 for our share... yes that's $938 a month deducted from my husbands check for united healthcare ppo. we got a letter that his deduction would be going up in january to $1357 a month for 70/30 coverage with a $5000 deductible. that's just not going to work for us, so i'm not sure what we are going to do. i am hoping for some sort of high deductible, catastrophic plan to be offered. healthcare reform really is screwing us.

My health professor at my old community college was paying about $1900/month for a family of 5. So she pays about $23,000/ year just for the insurance. Her husband works at the same school as an academic counselor so the insurance options are the same for both of them so she basically works just so they can pay for the health insurance. She COULD get an HMO through them instead but her husband is a cancer survivor and if he ever relapses, they would not be able to go back to where he was treated before and he would not be able to continue going to that hospital for his follow-ups. It's not a risk that she is willing to take. To her, $1357/month would be a bargain.

 

[j's m]

If only per *month* is what she was talking about...

I can read, I know she said $ 1000 PER YEAR.
I would be happy with $ 1000 PER MONTH instead of $ 1600

 

[Planogirl]

I pay just over $200 per paycheck so I'm paying between $5300 and $5400 per year.

 

[mistysue]

We pay just under $400/month for our share... the total cost of our plan is about $1800/month.

Singles on our plan are at $800+ (can't remember exactly, but 800 something)

We've always decided to pay more for a better plan, I'm really scared at how high our premiums are going to jump next year. I'm having a baby in March so changing our plan (and adding some huge deductable or new co-pays which we would need to pay all of right away) is just as scary.

 

[tinker&belle]

In the last few years we've had several different policies due to job changes:

1st insurance (mine, through huge public university) about $50 per month for DH and I. Great PPO, only paid a little over $200 for birth of DD1. Went up to about $90 when we had DD.

2nd insurance-Through Dh's job-high deductible. I don't remember what the deductible was, several thousands. We paid $250 a month for this for DH, me, and DD.

3rd insurance- Through the same job, but I was pregnant so we wanted a lower deductible- Individual deductible was $400, but $2000 plus deductible out of pocket max per person. It was $490 PER MONTH by the time he left, and had all kind of crazy co-pays on top of having to meet two individual OOP for my pregnancy and DD's medical condition....NOT a good deal, we should have stuck with the High Deductible.

4th insurance (DH got new job)- High deductible $2000, but it is a family deductible. Addtitional $4000 to make a total $6000 OOP max. It is $102 a month. Everything goes toward the deductible, prescriptions, dr's visits etc. except for yearly checkups which have a $25 co-pay, but they go toward the OOP max.

One way to deal with costs that worked for us was when DH went to his new job we took the amount of money we would have been spending on the old PPO $490 plan to start a HSA and that has helped a lot to cover our bills. (We will meet out OOP max this year, DD is having surgery tomorrow and we have known about this all year.) It is nice to know when I take the kids to the Dr the money has been budgeted and is in the special account. It takes away some of the pain.

 

[kmwek]

Wow! We have insurance through Dh's employer. We pay $150 a month for our family of 5. It went up this year, we had been paying $110 a month. Our deductible also went up, we did have a $250 deductible, but it went up to $500 this year. Still great insurance, we are very thankful. Through my employer it would be about $350 a month for the five of us. A little better benefits, but not enough to justify the extra $.

 

[benolathe]

Only $85 per month for health insurance sounds like a great bargain to me.

 

[bettymae1121]

I pay $84 every two weeks for DH and me on my employers plan, that's just under $2200 a year. The total premium is $22k a year so we're getting a good deal on that. It's very good insurance too, covers 100% of everything with no deductables very small co-pays (for example my husbands hand injury cost $20k but we only paid a $20 co-pay, insurance picked up the rest!) .

$1000 a year for a single person sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[Pakey]

I'm the person at our corporation who selects the insurance and determines what employees' portions will be.

We have our insurance through a non-profit trust with a high deductible. Our singles' policies cost $800 per month and we charge the employee $200 per month. Our family plans are $1900 per month and we charge the employee $525 month.

We switched from BC/BS 5 years ago because we just couldn't afford it anymore. We have crap insurance now, in comparison, but I felt it was better to have something the employees could afford rather than having them opt to uninsure.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Health Care Coverage evolution...

through 2007 I had 100% employer paid Blue Cross with 100% in-network PPO coverage with $100 deductible.

2008 - 100% employer paid Blue Cross with 100% in-network PPO coverage and $250 deductible

2009- 100% employer paid Blue Cross with 90% in-network PPO coverage until OOP costs reach $2k (not including ded, copays, Rx) THEN 100% kicks in, $250 deductible and $250 non-generic prescription deducitble.

2010 -Same as 2009

2011 - Same as 2009, 2010.

The other alternative I have is Blue Cross HMO. It is 100% employer paid with a $100 deductible. They are really trying to make managed care more attractive for employees.

I am annoyed that the Flex spending accounts for health care costs will be capped at $2500 after 2011. I use that money to cover all my potential deductibles, co-pays, orthodontics, etc. and $2500 just won't cut it.

 

[kldmom2000]

DH is self-employed. Every year our insurance goes up approx. $100 a month. This year? $340 MORE a month to $1500 w/ a $1,000 deductible!!!!! To lower the monthly cost, we had to take a different plan so now we pay $1190 per month with a $4,000 annual deductible through HMO Blue. I'd LOVE your premium!!! Now Blue Cross just got another 12% increase approved here in MA for small businesses so I have no idea what we'll do when March comes around Gotta love MA with the mandatory insurance coverage!