how much do you pay for health insurance?

[sksjasams]

I am feeling very thankful...
thru my employer we pay:
$225 per month for health insurance (physicians plus hmo)
-no deductable, $20 co-pay for office visits, $10/$25 co-pay for rx
$39 per month for dental (delta dental)
That is for our family DH, DSS, DS and me.

 

[bettymae1121]

These numbers are frightening to me. I live in Canada and although i knew you had to pay to see a dr. i had no idea that your company benefits cost you so much out of pocket!

Are company benefits are very different. i didnt see anyone talking about massage therapy, natural path, chiro, accupuncture? are these type of things covered? Do you pay for prescriptions?

It seems like a lot of money?

It really depends on the policy one's employer chooses to have. My insurance is top notch an includes many of the things you listed (everything except accupuncture, I think). A friend of mine that is in the same industry as me but works for a different company has a very bare bones policy, and outside of major medical, very little is covered. It all comes down to what your company can (or is willing to) afford. What you pay towards your employer provided health care can also vary. I pay only 10% of my premium, other people at other companies may pay anything up to the full cost of the policy, with their employer putting nothing towards it at all. An employer is also not required under federal law to provide insurance at all, although a few states do require it.

 

[tlh0726]

DH is self employed
We have highmark blue shield (ppo policy that is medically underwritten) $503.55 per month Deductible is $2400.00 (qualifies for HSA account) then after that 90/10 (they pay 90% we pay 10% up to a certain $$ amount)
Cheapest that I found that actually covers stuff.

For those of you paying alot through your employers, some employers around here will actually pay you more per hour if you do not enroll in their insurance. I actually have a few friends that switched to their own health insurance instead of the companies, came out with better coverage and lower monthly than what they were paying their employer before, plus their raise helps pay for part of it.
Worth checking into.

 

[tabithakp]

what do you mean by a premium?

 

[sara74]

We pay $1800 a month! DH owns his own company, so we foot the whole bill, both the employer and employee portion. That's over $20,000 a year for our family, never mind what he pays to provide health insurance to his employees. We don't have a big deductible but our copays are $45/visit, up from $30 last year. We switched carriers this year when the one we were using increased the cost over 20%. The new carrier was only a 6% increase over last year. Now DH can't just raise his fees 20% or even 6% to cover those increases, so it comes out of his bottom line!

 

[mrsklamc]

My DH works for the state yet I do not think our benefits are that great.

That actually is great. $250 or $500 deductibles are almost unheard of anymore.

 

[Darcy03231]

Technically we don't pay anything for medical, dental, prescription or hearing. Dh is in the union and contributes to his benefits by way of union dues. Union due are calculated on a percentage of what he makes.

 

[DawnM]

I used to have it 100% included when I worked (for the ENTIRE FAMILY!) I miss that.

Now we pay about $450/mo. for 2 adults and 3 kids. This includes dental and medical, but no vision.

I think our deductibles are $2K per person, $50 copay for ER, $15 doctor copays.

 

[bettymae1121]

what do you mean by a premium?

Sorry, an insurance premium is the cost of the insurance. If I want insurance coverage, the insurance company charges a certain amount for that coverage. That amout is called a premium. When it comes to medical insurance, an employer (if they offer insurance at all) may contribute a certain amount of money to cover their employee's premium. Let's say that insurance an company offers has a premium (cost) of $10k a year. An employer may pay any amount of that, from 0% (meaning the employee pays the full 10k) all the way up to 100% (meaning the employee pays nothing, that's very rare!). In my case, my premuim is $20k a year, and my employer pays 90% of that, so I cover the other 10%, or $2k a year. It's taken out of my paycheck pre-tax, meaning I don't pay income tax on the amount I pay towards my premium.

I hope this helps!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I pay $80 a month through Anthem (we're not offered insurance through work, in fact, it wasn't offered at my last job either). I have no medical issues. The plan I'm on has a $2,500 deductible, 3 office visits a year with a $30 co-pay. I really wanted something with maternity coverage but those plans are ridiculously expensive, so I'll just have to figure that any kid I decide to have will cost a few thousand. I tried to get my bf to join the military to be able to have "free" kids in the future and get Disney discounts but he wasn't having it .

Oh and I pay about $150 a year for a dental group thing that's really just like a discount card on services (has some vision discounts too: exams, contacts, glasses).

 

[scrapquitler]

My husband is self employed, so we pay the whole shebang...we have the HMO Plan thru Blue Cross....$500 limit for prescription coverage per person prescription copay is $10/$20/$30 depending on which list the medication is on, $1500 copay for hospitalization or outpatient surgery, $75 copay for emergency room visits, $20 for office visits, $30 for specialists (no pre-authorization required). Family of 4, we pay $1411 per month.

For those of you with a plan provided by your employer, remember that though YOU might be paying only $500 or whatever, your employer is paying a big hunk too (any you need to remember that is part of your 'pay',)

 

[DMickey28]

We now pay just under $200/month pre tax for our whole family. It shouldn't change when we add DS #2 to the plan.

It was $180 last year. This with United Healthcare which we have used for years but it's a new Choice plan that is a cross between a PPO and an HMO. We don't have to pick a primary care provider but we HAVE to go to an in-network doctor. Since we only always use in-network it was a no brainer for us to do that.

This also included life insurance, dental, vision and STD and LTD.

 

[bettymae1121]

I pay $80 a month through Anthem (we're not offered insurance through work, in fact, it wasn't offered at my last job either). I have no medical issues. The plan I'm on has a $2,500 deductible, 3 office visits a year with a $30 co-pay. I really wanted something with maternity coverage but those plans are ridiculously expensive, so I'll just have to figure that any kid I decide to have will cost a few thousand. I tried to get my bf to join the military to be able to have "free" kids in the future and get Disney discounts but he wasn't having it .

Oh and I pay about $150 a year for a dental group thing that's really just like a discount card on services (has some vision discounts too: exams, contacts, glasses).

I'd be careful with that. A normal, healthy pregnancy and delivery isn't too bad $$$ wise, but if you have a high risk pregnancy and/or have a complicated labor and/or recovery, it can get VERY expensive, VERY fast. There is a reason marternity coverage on insurance is so expensive! And unfortunatly, you won't know what kind of pregnancy you'll have until it's too late to get coverage.

 

[elgerber]

I'd be careful with that. A normal, healthy pregnancy and delivery isn't too bad $$$ wise, but if you have a high risk pregnancy and/or have a complicated labor and/or recovery, it can get VERY expensive, VERY fast. There is a reason marternity coverage on insurance is so expensive! And unfortunatly, you won't know what kind of pregnancy you'll have until it's too late to get coverage.

Very true! My son ended up being premature, 17 years ago, and without any major complications from that (no surgeries or medications or anything) the bill then was over $15000, 17 years ago.

 

[Heidijs]

I'd be careful with that. A normal, healthy pregnancy and delivery isn't too bad $$$ wise, but if you have a high risk pregnancy and/or have a complicated labor and/or recovery, it can get VERY expensive, VERY fast. There is a reason marternity coverage on insurance is so expensive! And unfortunatly, you won't know what kind of pregnancy you'll have until it's too late to get coverage.

Yep, I went from having a cheap natural water birth at our local hospital to having an emergency c-section instead at a whopping tune of $18,000...which I paid zero for because of the insurance's pregnancy plan...so keep your fingers crossed...

Most employers will pay 100% premium for individual policies. My fiance and I both work for the city and we both got free insurance until I had my daughter...then one of us had to kick in family medical...but still, our employer pays 50% of the premium...plus funds our deductible 100% so I pay nothing out of pocket all year besides the $280 pretax a month premium.

 

[Mom3girls]

We must be the minority here...My husbands employer pays the entire cost of our premium for a family of five. He works for a phone company. We have co-pays of $15 for doctors and $50 for hospital. my daughter had a health scare that required extensive blood work and out patient surgery at Childrens Hospital of Phila. that amounted to roughly
$ 20,000 and all we had to pay was the co-pays which came out to be $80. Guess we are REALLY lucky!!!

 

[peggster]

Most employers will pay 100% premium for individual policies. My fiance and I both work for the city and we both got free insurance until I had my daughter...then one of us had to kick in family medical...but still, our employer pays 50% of the premium...plus funds our deductible 100% so I pay nothing out of pocket all year besides the $280 pretax a month premium.

Actually, I've almost always had to pay part of the premium for individual coverage. Right now I pay about $113/month for a POS (as in point of service) plan. Dental and vision are through different providers and cost me about $20/month more. The deductibles and co-pays aren't too bad, although trying to get a straight answer out of them about how much they'll cover is like pulling teeth. I talked to 3 different people and got 3 different answers about allowed amounts for 1 procedure code. Sheesh.

At any rate, it is really interesting to me to see the wide variety of premiums and coverage people have.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Thanks for the info I think I'll just not get pregnant for now . I could barely afford the $80 a month to have basic, bare bones insurance. Or hope that my bf (future husband) finds a job that offers medical (as here if an employer offers medical they have to include maternity) or that his current employer will offer it (not likely).

 

[caribear]

That actually is great. $250 or $500 deductibles are almost unheard of anymore.

Now that I look at what I wrote I think I should have added an extra 0 to those numbers! I believe it is $2500 or $5000.

 

[disney1990]

My DH is retired from the phone company and we pay nothing for health insurance or dental insurance. We pay a $15 copay for doctor visits (regular and specialist), $15 to go to an Urgent Care Facility and $25 to go to an ER.