Health Insurance is Out of Control

[Karl F]

Mike, when you say $600 a month, is that the Total Premium, or is that the employee's %??

Also,..Family Plan, or Individual?

[likwid]

Originally Posted by cheferson

I used to pay $200 a month at the old employer(health mate), then cobra for $480 a month, then when i did the idividual (bcbs)it was $140 with the discount. Now i pay $420 (pre-tax) for health, dental and vision for a family plan from bcbs, and delta.

BC HMO: $94/mo (ind)

~$105 with vision and dental

[PaulS]

Ross, sorry to hear that. Try calling them up and offering a lower amount. My wife had to go to the hospital recently for some out patient surgery. Its going to cost us about $1,500 out of pocket. Prob. $4,000 total for 20 min. surg. and being in the hospital 3 hours. I want to call to see if they'll accept less if I pay the same day.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Karl F

Mike, when you say $600 a month, is that the Total Premium, or is that the employee's %??

Also,..Family Plan, or Individual?

It's the employees' contribution, which is 25% of the total premium, for a family plan. GIC raised the employee contribution from 20% to 25% as of July 1. That's for the "gold standard" plan, GIC's "Commonwealth Indemnity", which is good for any hospital/doctor in the US. No "network" to stay in for full coverage.

The GIC "Community Choice" PPO, and the Harvard Pilgrim PPO plan that I have now are $300/month employee contribution. That also covers prescription drug insurance.

GIC also offers cheaper HMO plans.

Our vision and dental plans are free, but they're for crap. Vision covers an annual exam, and one pair of lenses and the cheapest POS frames available every two years. Dental plan covers up to $1000 per family member per year, so a root canal means you're digging into your own pocket for whatever it costs above a grand.

[Karl F]

Thanks for the answer, then it is right in line with the BCBS PPO plan I have, which is about 24 grand a year..or will be after the price increase December 1...
and Delta Dental... grand a year allowance, but not 100 %.. if the cleaning was 124 bucks, they might allow say 97 bucks, and then I get billed back.... Crown might go 1400, they allow 650... at least that has been my experience...

Ted...please sign me up for BCBS HMO..!?!...for a hundred a month..... yikes, that is a deal..

must be not in MA, and not a family plan, and your boss is taking real good care of you on his end...