Benefit costs

[TNT]

I was sort of unhappy that my health insurance premium at work went up $7 a month. Then I was talking to my sister tonight... her insurance went up $20 a WEEK. Do the math on that one... it's like a 50 cent an hour pay cut (at a place where the manager acts like it's big news that he was able to talk the company into increasing pay 12 cents an hour when they were only planning on offering 10 cents.) The insurance hasn't changed any... and it's good insurance, but it's not great.

I suppose it's better to pay a lot for benefits than to have none, but still... I wonder if insurance went up that much or if that was the company's way of sneaking in a pay cut.

[powerboy]

Most likely, it is the company's ways of a pay cut.

[AFpheonix]

That sucks. This country is in serious need of insurance reform. It's way too spendy, and it's because there's so much overhead involved.

But that's a rant for another day, and I'm sure as Raps will remind me, for another board.

[Girly]

Usually what happens is, every year the insurance premiums go up. If your company pays for your full insurance premium, you'll never notice, since you don't pay it anyway. If your company only pays for part of it, well then the percentage you're responsible for goes up as well.

A lot of people don't get how much insurance really does cost the company. It's the same thing as your taxes. The company has to match your SS and Medicare in addition to the SS And Medicare taxes that get taken out of your check. (I'm not saying you don't get that, it seems like you are just saying the increase in insurance sucks.... and I totally agree. It really sucks.)

[Rapscallion]

That sucks. This country is in serious need of insurance reform. It's way too spendy, and it's because there's so much overhead involved.

But that's a rant for another day, and I'm sure as Raps will remind me, for another board.

Remind me, and I'll start up a thread about it

Rapscallion

[PuckishOne]

From the horse's mouth, as it were...

Necessary Backstory: We are sort of a middle-man, in that we administer policies for employers, but we aren't the "Insurance Company." For example, we may offer a Blue Cross policy, and do all the legwork and paperwork, but we aren't Blue Cross.

With that out of the way, at our last open enrollment, one of the plans we offered quoted us rates that were 23% higher than the previous year. Which means that an employer would either have to (a) absorb that increase to not raise its employees' costs; (b) raise its employees' costs by some amount to offset the increase; or (c) drop the plan all together and look for a new one.

Girly kind of hit on this in saying that most employees (not all, of course) never see the real cost of premiums (which is to say the amount paid by an employer). While I wouldn't be surprised, I have personally never heard of an employer using an increase in benefits costs as a pay cut.

Either way, it sucks some, don't it?

[TNT]

Interesting. Where I work, I pay 15% of the premium, so a $7 increase means insurance went up, uh, um, well... a lot. (I'm not good with those number things.)

My sister's premium went from $100 a month to $180, which means an increase of what... 80%? There could be a lot of reasons for that... the cost of insurance went up, the company now pays less per cent of the cost, etc. Still...

Anyways, I just got a rather sobering reminder of just how much health care costs these days. I caught a cold a few months ago... not just any cold, but a cold with a real attitude problem. (Thanks for the lovely parting gift ) For the first time in a long time, I went to the doctor... not once, but twice.

According to the insurance company, each of those visits cost $165.

The diagnosis: "You have a cold."
The treatment: "You'll get better when you get better. Feel free to take some Tylenol in the meantime."

[Maevis]

Puckish--thanks for that information.

I'm pretty clueless about how benefit packages work. (As I have never had a job that came with medical bennies). I have heard people say that when considering jobs one should consider the benefits as part of the pay (even though you will still pay a portion of the insurance).

The job I was just hired for offers medical benefits, (I'll be learning more about how that works this week). Part of me is thrilled that a benefits package is being offered and part of me is resisting it, simply because I've never had health insurance, and there's that part of my penny-pinching brain that says, "It's not realy a benefit if you never use it". But, it's not like I'm 20 anymore. I've been fortunate to have funds on hand at the times I've needed to pay out of pocket for some minor health issues, but if I ever, realy and truly needed critical care, I would be in deep dog doo.

[PuckishOne]

According to the insurance company, each of those visits cost $165.

Ooh, I'm on a roll now....

Depending on where you live and the sort of provider you use, a normal office visit can put you back anywhere from $85 up to $300 or more, so that $165 is probably very close if not spot-on. For example, I went to a walk-in McClinic last spring (self-inflicted foot injury) and found out later that it was around $250 just to walk in the door. Add the cost of a couple X-ray snapshots, a Blue Bootie of Shame, and a 12-second conversation with an MD, and it came to around $500 for a 30-minute visit to confirm what I already knew (that I'd sprained 2 toes).

Maevis - congratulations on the job and the benefits. Hopefully you'll be given good information on the plan(s) offered and can come up with a workable solution. I know that sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it to carry medical insurance - I've done it myself - so I totally sympathize with you and hope it works out well.

[symposes]

our insurence is rumored to be going from 25 a month for single plan, to 60(its HMO too. not that good stuff. However this does depend on the doctor... If you get a good one, it makes all the difference. If you get some person still in med school, or that still real green.... Well they didnt nickname the clinic and hospital, chop shops for nothing. We have our fair share of horror stories. ).
heres the kicker
I work for a university that has its own clinic and hospital.
The premiums arent changing, they just want us to pay more of them.
Our insurence is already unaffordable if you arent on the single plan(ie just you)
my coworker had his wife and 2 kids on it(and himself), and he paid 100%of the premium every month for the same damn coverage. Hello 400 dollar premium.
According to everyone ive talked to, because it is a state funded school, they get paid so much for offering their own insurence. So they are making even MORE money there. From what i understand, its like a reimbursement from the state, to help offset costs.
Now, i havent seen the enrollment sheets, because that doesnt start until april, Ill know the truth then.
My employer has an interesting tactic.
They used to give you a pay raise, and then turn around and raise the cost of parking, and the cost to the employee for health insurence.
Now they arent even giving us the pay raises first. And hell, they are barely giving us the pay raises.
One guy i worked with was given a 2 cent pay raise one year. Why? Because the administration felt he needed to be fired, but couldnt find a reason(we arent an at will state... wooo), they hoped that by jipping him on a raise, they could encourage him to quit. That didnt work though...
Oh well it will come back to bite the employeer in the butt. There are going to be 4 or 5 buildings built from scratch here in the next 2-3 years. The contractors will be paying top dollar for people to do the work we do. And with a 3 month wait for hiring (as in it takes 3 months for all the beuracratic red tape work..) it will be interesting if half the department quits to work for contractors at twice what they make now...

[Banrion]

Girly kind of hit on this in saying that most employees (not all, of course) never see the real cost of premiums (which is to say the amount paid by an employer). (

For me and my "domestic partner" I pay $2,417.04 a year ($46.50 a week) for medical, dental, basic life & disability insurance. My company pays $5,706.90. So I pay 30% + taxes on Eric's portion(roughly half). Which is a great deal in my book. That's a little off because I don't contribute anything at all towards the life & disability portion. My company is very transparent as far as premiums & the like go. I also have what I believe to be a very good insurance plan. I haven't found a provider yet that doesn't accept it.

BUT... This year at enrollment they instituted a new thing. Now to get the lowest rates for the insurance you have to take a "Health Risk Assessment" & certify that you don't smoke -or- will take a smoking cessation course in the first quarter of 2007. The HRA gets you a $20.00/month premium credit, and the tobacco usage a $30.00 credit. That adds up to a lot of money over the course of a year.