Your current health insurance...

Mine is through my employer. For just me it is $29.43 taken out each paycheck and a $1500 deductible.

When I was working, I had a high-deductible insurance plan (single rate).  If I recall correctly, the deductible was $2000, and it cost me approximately $40 every 2 weeks.  Granted, once that $2000 was hit, as long as I stayed in network, I didn't have to pay anything for the rest of the year.  Oh, and preventative medicine costs were covered, even if I hadn't met my deductible.

wow, you are really lucky you have not been paying.

I pay about $250 per month for a family plan (medical and dental). $20 co-pay every time we see a doctor...$40 for specialists.  The deductable I believe is $3,000.

Single here - I pay $31.85 every two weeks, dental is included.
Used to be $0 copay for primary physician but that just changed to $15. Co-pay for specialist is $20.
No deductable.

Edited by lisac957 2011-02-19 6:27 PM

I do not have a family plan (Single).  Company pays for the premium in full.

5000 deductible, 25 copay for primary doctor, 50 for specialist.

It includes a dental discount plan and vision insurance as well.....

When I had it it was $95 twice a month for single person.  When I left it was being moved to $150 twice a month.  CEO beleived in Heath care saving accounts so it was heavily  funded and everything else was little or no funding.

Right now my insurance is $170 month for just myself with a $1000 deductible. When the wife stops working and has our kid in September, adding them will raise it to $370/month along with a $1500 deductible.

Go out to the open market and price plans out - the beauty is your HC is not tied to your job.   Maybe they will agree to pay you an extra 3K a year.   We have traditional plan, with  $200 ded each, but pay $680 a month for a family of four.

I had a few options with my insurance when I got my job. I chose to go for the PPO plan, not the HMO, even though the HMO was a "better deal" (my employer would actually be giving ME money every two weeks). I chose the PPO plan because my job requires a LOT of travel, and the understanding was that if I was to have an incident while on the road, it would have to be life threatening in order for the HMO to pay for it. Rather than deal with that, I took the PPO.

Basically, I pay $0* every two weeks, $500 deductible. Copay is $20 office, $45 ER.

*Now, it's not "really" $0. For some reason, my employer gives us these "credits", which are deposited into our checks, and then takes them back out to pay for our health care. I'm sure there's a fancy accountancy reason for all this, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm just glad I have it and that it is so good. I'm a state employee, and my wages are somewhat below what someone in my field makes in the "private" sector (which doesn't really exist in my field...we're usually some weird hybrid of the two), so the additional benefits compensate for that.

I pay $7 every two weeks for dental, and $3 every two weeks for vision. Well worth it. I've been really impressed with the level of coverage I've had from all of these services.

Don't forget that the premium comes out before taxes, so the net effect will be less than the $140. Also, check to see if the new company has the ability to do an FSA, which can offset the net effect of the deductible.

Keep in mind that companies usually renegotiate insurance yearly. So, as a deciding factor, it's not great as it will invariably change. In my experience, it NEVER gets more generous so assume the current is the best it will be and that if it is good it will decrease over time

I have the high deductible plan for the family it's 50 a month and 2500/5000 (individual/family) deductible before the insurance kicks in.
he other plan they offer is around 350 a month for a family with lower co-payments but same year total deductible
 

Guess I have to be the lone Canuck. Pay $43 a month for the family. Covers everything. Wife has dental plan from her work as well and that covers all our dental work. As a Canadian looking across the border at the debate about this issue I'm always surprised how many Americans are fighting some sort of health care plan.

Self employed:

Almost $800 a month for a family of 4.  $1500 individual deductible.  $4000 family.  After which insurance pays 80%.  No copays.  I pay 100% out of pocket iuntil I reach the deductible.

So basically I pay almost $12k a year before insurance even kicks in.

People who have employers who help pay their insurance need to quit complaining (directed at the public at large, not necessarily anyone here)


Edited by TriRSquared 2011-02-20 11:52 AM

$200 ded at that rate?  I need to know who you are going with.  Care to share? I can't get anywhere near that here in FL.

Currently have a "high deductible" plan:

I pay 100% until family deductible of $3,000 is met ($6,000 if "out of network").  After deductible is met, they pay 85%.  My max payout per year is $6,000 ($12,000 out of network).  No co-pays, and my premium is about $75 every two weeks for a family of four.

$184 twice a month for a family $3000 deductible plan which qualifies as a high deductible plan qualifying me for a Health Savings Account (HSA(not to be confused with an FSA) and because I chose the HD plan and took some of the burden off of my company, they seed my HSA with $975, which in essence means my deductible is lowered to $2025.  They also pay me $1200 to participate in a wellness program which lowers it to $825.  Fully covered after meeting the deductible.  All preventative is covered at 100% before deductible as well.

It ain't what it used to be (free) but I have had much worse in recent years.

The bigger problem is that damn near every doctor that we like and who spends more than a couple minutes with us doesn't feel like haggling with the insurance companies any more and are out of network.  My family sees far too many doctors I know but 5 of them have gone out of network in the last 2 years.  Out of Network is $4500 if the powers that be deem it worthy to be covered in the first place.  

90/10 plan with Blue Cross.

No monthly premium for the employee.
High Deductible HSA Plan ($3000 - but the employer puts $3000 into the HSA)

I realize this is a VERY good plan that I probably couldn't find with very many other employers.

Interesting. I guess I would need a little more information to put it in perspective. As in...

a) What is your effective tax rate (income, property, etc.)?

b) Are there stipulations on the kind of care you can receive?

c) Are you satisfied with the quality of care you receive?

single person... 2500 yearly deductable,  80./20 plan,  dental but no vision.  Co-pay is $30 a visit

opps I pay $80 a month

Edited by Gaarryy 2011-02-21 3:20 PM

I think comparing the two is very tough, it's set up totally differently.  I remember saying to an American friend how I was shocked to have to pay at the doctor in Australia (where we were both living at the time) and she looked at me like I was insane.  The last benefit plan I had covered everything over & above the province's plan (prescriptions, glasses, dental work)  100% with no deductible and was fully employer-paid.  They also topped-up my provincial maternity leave benefit (which paid up to $413/wk) to 95% of my salary for the entire year.  That employer's benefits were obviously stellar and unusual, but we DO pay for basic health care in our higher taxes.  My ex-husband loses half his pay to the gov't before he even sees it (and then loses 50% to me but that's entirely another thread).  And while we will be treated for free, there are downsides to our system too - very long wait times being the primary one.  Sure we have ACCESS to everything - all the new equipment, great doctors, free treatment ... as long as that pesky tumour just holds off on growing for 6 months while you wait for your appointment.  

That said, I stand behind the right for everyone to have access to health care and I'm happy to enjoy that in Canada.  But I won't hide the fact that it's nice to have the US so close that if someone I love needs care faster (or something experimental) we could drive down and pay for it.  Completely hypocritical I know.

Sorry for the hijack. 



Edited by lamb_y2003 2011-02-21 3:46 PM

The company I currently work for is self insured, and all employees pay no monthly premium for medical. Dental and Vision do have monthly premiums.