Leaving for better paying job, but insurance is worse... should I care?

[momxx5]

If your new job/position is that good.....pay above your current pay, chances for promotions, etc., you have to look at the big picture.....with the larger pay you will be able to pay the insurance copays, etc.

Its all a matter of proportion.

Making $XX and spending a certain percentage on health care
VERSUS

Making$XXXXX and spending a percentage on health care

If you end up paying that same percentage proportionally than technically you will not be losing anything. And more likely will be gaining a better employment opportunity.

That said, I would find it hard to leave a federal/state job. Although even those jobs are not as secure as they once were.

Good luck. Keep us postedd.

 

[southern_redhead]

20% - are they calling that a co-pay or a deductible?

I see that later the OP addressed this but I wanted to add that, in previous insurance situations, I was SO MAD to find that our $30 co pays were NOT going to our deductible. I don't know if there are insurances where they do, I've certainly never run across one, but I find this ... just ... wrong! With six people in our family, if we all ended up with the flu or something it was $180 for us all to see the doctor (then add in the rx copays, not fun!) and that would have taken a chunk off the deductible. And, with 4 kids, it is rare that someone has something contagious and doesn't share

That said, I would find it hard to leave a federal/state job. Although even those jobs are not as secure as they once were.

Yeah, I feel that way too. I don't love my job BUT it is through the state and so slightly more secure than other positions I've held. Given the high rate of unemployment in my area I'm keeping my mouth shut and my head down.


OP, I can understand how important this is to you. There are days when the ONLY thing that kept me from walking out the door at work with a great big "Kiss my a**" was the insurance. We have had insurance through DH before where it is a deductible and it just sucked. No other words for it. When I got my job I was so excited because the insurance was so fantastic. $25 to see a doctor, $40 for a specialist. NO deductible EVER. Well, with the new healthcare reform our insurance said "to meet the guidelines" they had to do away with that plan and go to, basically, what we had before. Right back to deductibles we go. I don't think our PCP will be subject to them and things like mammograms and yearly physicals are now free. That is better. But things like hospital stays can get expensive. I had two children in the hospital one year - DD for 2 days in the spring and then DS for 3 days in the fall. The amount of those bills before insurance Thankfully, we do have a cap with the deductible, once it is met we won't have to pay more but I'm still worried. I (half jokingly) told my boss they better hope this insurance isn't the nightmare our old ones were or my incentive to work is out the window. Good luck on your decision!

 

[sameyeyam]

I say stay with the good insurance. You never know what is going to happen with your health. I was 40 years old, never felt better and got diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily I had an HMO and only paid $10 for prescriptions and office visits. Many of my other breast cancer friends that I met online ended up going bankrupt when they had to pay 20% and larger co-pays.

Here's a rundown of the approximate cost of breast cancer (with a good outcome):

$40,000 mastectomy
$16,000 x 8 chemos
$75,000 - 36 radiation treatments
$70,000 - reconstructive surgery
At least 1 office visit a week for about a year
Weekly physical therapy for lymphadema massage.
Hundreds & hundreds of prescriptions (one day after chemo I had 27 pills to take in a 24 hour period).
Yearly MRI's - $4,000.

I can't imagine what I would have paid with traditional insurance. In the two years that my treatment and reconstruction lasted, we spent about $2,000 out of pocket.

 

[Ericandjenng]

Being a fellow Federal employee, I would NOT leave. I have considered it more than once and continually consider finishing my bachelor's so I can find something more interesting, challenging, (any descriptive word you want to pick)...BUT, I am not willing to give up my insurance or Thrift savings match.

It's so easy when going for anything medical. The office asks what insurance and you tell them XXX and fed employee and the answer is come on in. My DH has insurance available through his employer but it would scare me if we had to have it and it's one of the same companies that I'm offered as a fed employee--the difference is what we're offered vs what his company has chosen to offer. I have laid the info side by side and there is simply no comparison. The Fed plans tend to have better negotiated rates because they have such a large group. There is also alot of things that we get covered as Fed employees that most non-govt employers never even consider including on their plan.

For example, the year I had my DS even with fertility treatments, our oop was about $1500 for the whole! year for myself and DH.

Also very few companies now match like the match we get with Thrift. My DH's company is international and the largest part of his match is "discretionary". The Thrift match is set.

Another thing to consider is your leave availability. I don't know how much you all are offered but NO ONE except for teachers who have the whole summer off, get as much paid time off as what I get with the particular part of govt that I work for.

Have you considered a different position within your area of govt? Or have you checked OPM's website? They have all the available Fed jobs listed.

Good Luck!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I say stay with the good insurance. You never know what is going to happen with your health. I was 40 years old, never felt better and got diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily I had an HMO and only paid $10 for prescriptions and office visits. Many of my other breast cancer friends that I met online ended up going bankrupt when they had to pay 20% and larger co-pays.

Here's a rundown of the approximate cost of breast cancer (with a good outcome):

$40,000 mastectomy
$16,000 x 8 chemos
$75,000 - 36 radiation treatments
$70,000 - reconstructive surgery
At least 1 office visit a week for about a year
Weekly physical therapy for lymphadema massage.
Hundreds & hundreds of prescriptions (one day after chemo I had 27 pills to take in a 24 hour period).
Yearly MRI's - $4,000.

I can't imagine what I would have paid with traditional insurance. In the two years that my treatment and reconstruction lasted, we spent about $2,000 out of pocket.

Yep, and with the high deductable insurance that we have (and probably other HD plans as well), things like the weekly PT listed above wouldn't have been covered, had a negotiated rate OR counted towards the "out of pocket" max. Your 5K "out of pocket" max can end up being WAY more because certain things just don't count towards it.

We pay $127.50/week for our DD's PT and $120/week for her OT. Neither of them count towards the OOP max and neither have a negotiated rate. Add in the $47/week that we pay for her speech therapy (which does count towards the deductable, but as "out of network") and you start to see where this kind of plan can bleed even a healthy family dry. We are out nearly 15K/year for PT/OT/ST and yet we only met like $1000 of our "out of pocket" amount last year My advice is to stick with the good insurance for as long as you can. Bad insurance will eat up your higher pay and promotions in a heartbeat.

Don't even get me started on prescriptions. It was costing us over $100 to fill our DD's Xopenex prescription until Xopenex started offering the $50 savings off the copay. Now we "only" pay $57 to pick up her Xopenex every month. DH's allergy pills are $79/month WITH $50 off from that brand. If our DD needs tubes in her ears soon, we're looking at thousands just to get the procedure done. Trust me, having this kind of a plan makes you second guess ever going to the doctor, even if you need to go.

 

[tar heel]

Insurance has changed so much for those of us who aren't unionized or government workers that's it's really hard to compare. We are paying much more than just a few years ago.

My DH has the 20% coinsurance thing and I have standard $15/$30 deductibles for office visits. He does pay more than me but not as much more as I had feared it would be when the switch was made. He's annual physical is $100-$150. He hade outpatient surgery, and our cost was almost $2,000. He also pays a LOT MORE for prescription drugs than just a few years ago (some co-pays are over $100). My plan skewers you on outpatient tests, such as ultrasounds, MRIs, etc.-- had an ultrasound and had to pay about $1,000.

I would make sure to look at retirement also before you switch jobs as most private sector companies have nothing remotely like the public sector.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Insurance has changed so much for those of us who aren't unionized or government workers that's it's really hard to compare. We are paying much more than just a few years ago.

My DH has the 20% coinsurance thing and I have standard $15/$30 deductibles for office visits. He does pay more than me but not as much more as I had feared it would be when the switch was made. He's annual physical is $100-$150. He hade outpatient surgery, and our cost was almost $2,000. He also pays a LOT MORE for prescription drugs than just a few years ago (some co-pays are over $100). My plan skewers you on outpatient tests, such as ultrasounds, MRIs, etc.-- had an ultrasound and had to pay about $1,000.

I would make sure to look at retirement also before you switch jobs as most private sector companies have nothing remotely like the public sector.

Would it make financial sense for you and your DH to add each other to your plans as secondary health insurance? It sounds like the plans might be complementary as far as one paying out for certain tests when the other one doesn't.

 

[gatormom2tots]

We don't nearly have enough info on your insurance to tell you what is the better way to go...and there is a lot to say about job satisfacion!

The only thing I have to add is this- I had to turn down a job that was much more to my liking due to their insurance. I have state insurance because I am a public school teacher and was looking at going into the private sector to teach- however, when you looked at the change in insurance it wasn't possible. And my husband works for a small firm- their insurance stinks.

If it was just me and my husband it MAY have been doable...but with 2 kids and 1 on the way, there was no way. The kids are 95% of our medial bills.

Best of luck!

 

[sookie]

Thank you guys SO MUCH for the replies!! So much to think about - thank you!!

 

[tar heel]

Insurance has changed so much for those of us who aren't unionized or government workers that's it's really hard to compare. We are paying much more than just a few years ago.

My DH has the 20% coinsurance thing and I have standard $15/$30 deductibles for office visits. He does pay more than me but not as much more as I had feared it would be when the switch was made. He's annual physical is $100-$150. He hade outpatient surgery, and our cost was almost $2,000. He also pays a LOT MORE for prescription drugs than just a few years ago (some co-pays are over $100). My plan skewers you on outpatient tests, such as ultrasounds, MRIs, etc.-- had an ultrasound and had to pay about $1,000.

I would make sure to look at retirement also before you switch jobs as most private sector companies have nothing remotely like the public sector.

I don't believe DH is allowed to cover me, even secondary, b/c I'm eligible for insurance at my place of employment. This rule has tightened up over the past three or four years as his industry has collapsed. Because my group is so small (4 people), family coverage is $$$$. DH has the kids on his policy b/c it was so much less expensive.

 

[Kathi OD]

I don't believe DH is allowed to cover me, even secondary, b/c I'm eligible for insurance at my place of employment. This rule has tightened up over the past three or four years as his industry has collapsed. Because my group is so small (4 people), family coverage is $$$$. DH has the kids on his policy b/c it was so much less expensive.

My DH's company's insurance is like this. Since I am eligible for insurance at my place of employment, he cannot add me to his policy.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I don't believe DH is allowed to cover me, even secondary, b/c I'm eligible for insurance at my place of employment. This rule has tightened up over the past three or four years as his industry has collapsed. Because my group is so small (4 people), family coverage is $$$$. DH has the kids on his policy b/c it was so much less expensive.

Bummer. Back in the day DH and I were able to cover each other as "secondary" insurance. Things have probably changed since then in general.