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What do you pay for health insurance?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by 93Devil, Jun 29, 2012.

?

Pretty simple, where do you fall?

  1. I have full coverage for me only and i pay nothing

    2 vote(s)
    3.0%

  2. I have full coverage for me and I pay less than $200 a month

    18 vote(s)
    26.9%

  3. I have full coverage for me and I pay between $200 and $500 a month

    11 vote(s)
    16.4%

  4. I have full coverage for me and I pay more than $500 a month

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  5. I have full coverage for my family and I pay less than $200 a month

    5 vote(s)
    7.5%

  6. I have full coverage for my family and I pay between $200 and $500 a month

    18 vote(s)
    26.9%

  7. I have full coverage for my family and I pay more than $500 a month

    8 vote(s)
    11.9%

  8. I do not have health insurance for myself

    4 vote(s)
    6.0%

  9. I do not have health insurance for my family

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  10. Insurance for my family costs more than $1,000 a month

    1 vote(s)
    1.5%
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  1. Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!

    Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!! Well-Known Member


    I doubt anyone has "comprehensive" coverage anymore. Not without paying mega $$$$ for it anyway.
    Certainly no one who's entered the workforce within the last 5 years. Those days are over.
     
    Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!, Jun 29, 2012
    #13
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The health insurance itself costs way more than what she's paying out of pocket. Someone is paying and passing along part of the cost to her. That is fairly common -- not just in public / union represented jobs. A company offers health insurance with the employee contributing $X every pay period as part of the cost. It's likely part of what her union negotiated. At one point health insurance was part of the contract. Then because of rising costs, it became, "health insurance with each employee contributing a part."
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 29, 2012
    #14
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    I run a small business and cover all of our employees health insurance. Singles run around $1200 per month and families run around $1500 per month for what I consider a good plan.

    Anyone paying less than that is getting subsidized by either a company or union.

    As costs keep going up, we may soon move to a co-pay.
     
    Boom_70, Jun 29, 2012
    #15
  4. Hokie_pokie

    Hokie_pokie Well-Known Member

    I'm sure, on the surface, it does seem exactly that.

    But there are always two ways to look at things.

    My wife is a government employee who teaches 5-year-olds all day and does so for not very much money.

    If such benefits as (admittedly) incredible health insurance and retirement weren't offered, I don't think there would be many people compelled to stick themselves in a classroom for 7-8 hours a day with a bunch of other people's snotty-nosed kids.

    I don't really see that as government "intrusion" -- but that doesn't mean I'm not a little biased in that view.
     
    Hokie_pokie, Jun 29, 2012
    #16
  5. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Hokie, is she a government employee or a county employee? Is this a county school system?
     
    93Devil, Jun 29, 2012
    #17
  6. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Who do you think subsidizes those artificially low insurance rates?
     
    Azrael, Jun 29, 2012
    #18
  7. Hokie_pokie

    Hokie_pokie Well-Known Member

    Yes, this is most definitely the case. But it would be ironic if the benefits were a result of union negotiations because neither she nor several of her teacher friends belong to the local or state teacher's unions -- they believe the unions make it almost impossible to fire crappy teachers and have been far too slow to get with the program on merit-based pay increases.
     
    Hokie_pokie, Jun 29, 2012
    #19
  8. Hokie_pokie

    Hokie_pokie Well-Known Member

    County. It's all still government, though.
     
    Hokie_pokie, Jun 29, 2012
    #20
  9. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Honestly, I have never heard of a school division picking and choosing which employee gets what coverage and grandfathering coming into play. Usually it is a blanket coverage that each employee follows. Be aware that all it takes is one fiscal cycle to have your health care costs triple.

    The County Board of Supervisors are the ones that pull the strings on your healthcare, not the federal or state government. That is a huge difference, but it is still all tax dollars.

    I think it costs about $1,200 to $1,300 a month total cost (what the employee pays added to what the school picks up) to insure a family with a child. It might be a few hundred higher, though.
     
    93Devil, Jun 29, 2012
    #21
  10. Hokie_pokie

    Hokie_pokie Well-Known Member

    All I know is what I see on her paystub. I don't know that there's any grandfathering being done on health insurance at the local level -- I just know the state is doing it with the new teachers' VRS contributions.
     
    Hokie_pokie, Jun 29, 2012
    #22
  11. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    My last job there was no cost for me and I paid about $490 a month for my wife. Didn't use COBRA when I left.

    In my previous job there was no cost for me and I paid between $200-$300 for my wife when I added her to my policy after she lost her job. There was no cost to me at all when she was on her work policy. COBRA was $700 monthly for the two of us.

    Not sure what my wife's work plan costs now so I didn't vote. Plus, it's just the two of us. "Family" implies kids and we don't have any.
     
    Armchair_QB, Jun 29, 2012
    #23
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I run a small business and cover a few people. I assume you and I would be looking at somewhat similar rates with it being the tri-state area. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut are ridiculous (medical costs are higher here, because overall cost of living, overhead, etc. is higher). So $1200 per month in some parts of the country might be extreme. For Connecticut, probably Fairfield County, where I have always assumed you are (and no need to correct me), your rates wouldn't be extreme at all.

    My one difference is that my business started off with a relationship with a much larger company, and I am getting my insurance at their group rate. It's an informal part of an ongoing contract for something we partner on. I am not even sure how they do it in practice, but they give me and my people their rate and I cut my checks right to them. It is still expensive, but cheaper than the small business rates I'd otherwise get around here. It's a plan with no high deductible. You have to stay with doctors in their network, but it's the largest network in NYC. Typical co-pay is $20. And it includes prescriptions. Nothing else -- no dental or anything like that.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 29, 2012
    #24
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