Company Benefits, if you can call it that.

[BarkingGhostar]

Over the last two years I have removed myself from my employers medical and dental benefits. Part of this was in preparation for what the wife and I thought would be the eventual surplus, leaving me unemployed. Besides the fact that AT&T's medical benefit offerings suck like the vacuum of space (zero benefit until you pay 100% of your deductible), the wife and I hung onto things like the group life insurance policy, along with the AD&D supplement. Now these insurances are in addition to the paltry $50K base policy the company gives you at no cost.

Last year the Group Life Insurance policy went up from ~$140 to $206. This year is went to $340! These are monthly deductions. I find it hard to believe these are honest increases because my employer would never release the information to its employees, let alone the public at large. And a company with 250K employees has zero leverage in negotiating a better group life insurance policy? The interesting thing is that over the past decade my employer has been surplussing more older folks than younger, so the premiums leveled across the board should be lower, but they are not. All this leads me to believe that my employer isn't telling the truth, has no requirement, legally, to do so, and is actually milking its employees for their corporate gain.

What I do not understand is that when my employer decided to no longer contribute to the legacy pension plans why didn't they just get rid of the [legacy] group life insurance policy, too? BECAUSE they are miking their employees? I've got to ask, for anyone else working for a large company what is the group life offering and costs you face? Now I know on the open market it would be much worse, but this just seems overly suspicious to me.

 

[Greenman]

Sounds like a great deal to me. But I'm self employed and pay through the nose for everything.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Sounds like a great deal to me. But I'm self employed and pay through the nose for everything.

Yeah I’m with ya. Just started a temporary work from home job to make a few bucks. Man it is crappy. High expectations, low pay, high benefit cost and I just learned moments ago I may be required to work on Thanksgiving. Good chance I’m going to say FU to them this week.

OP I was always amazed how much better bargained for benefits were than non bargained. Crazy the difference at least 10 years ago. My bargained for employees basically paid pocket change for doctor visits and the monthly cost was reasonable. Mine was higher monthly and way higher out of pocket for pretty much everything. Also sucked that during the meltdown my bargained for guys kept getting pay increases because it was in the contract while I either didn’t or got some trivial amount extra.
Good luck man.

 

[dyna]

Over the last two years I have removed myself from my employers medical and dental benefits. Part of this was in preparation for what the wife and I thought would be the eventual surplus, leaving me unemployed. Besides the fact that AT&T's medical benefit offerings suck like the vacuum of space (zero benefit until you pay 100% of your deductible), the wife and I hung onto things like the group life insurance policy, along with the AD&D supplement. Now these insurances are in addition to the paltry $50K base policy the company gives you at no cost.

Last year the Group Life Insurance policy went up from ~$140 to $206. This year is went to $340! These are monthly deductions. I find it hard to believe these are honest increases because my employer would never release the information to its employees, let alone the public at large. And a company with 250K employees has zero leverage in negotiating a better group life insurance policy? The interesting thing is that over the past decade my employer has been surplussing more older folks than younger, so the premiums leveled across the board should be lower, but they are not. All this leads me to believe that my employer isn't telling the truth, has no requirement, legally, to do so, and is actually milking its employees for their corporate gain.

What I do not understand is that when my employer decided to no longer contribute to the legacy pension plans why didn't they just get rid of the [legacy] group life insurance policy, too? BECAUSE they are miking their employees? I've got to ask, for anyone else working for a large company what is the group life offering and costs you face? Now I know on the open market it would be much worse, but this just seems overly suspicious to me.

You are in the downward spiral of benefit loss at your company. Once companies start down this path, your benefits won't seem like benefits anymore. What you want to find out is how much it is subsidized. It is possible it was subsidized last year and now it is unsubsidized, hence the big jump.

 

[nakedfrog]

How much coverage are you getting for that $340?
I'm putting out seven bucks a month for 70k, but my base coverage is also much more generous than what you're getting.

 

[pcgeek11]

Well for my wife and I my paycheck deduction is 65 dollars every two weeks (130 bucks a month) for company life insurance 250K each.

Plus we also have a 100% employer paid base life insurance level policy also at 50K.

 

[zinfamous]

I guess I don't have it as bad as I thought (compared to previous Employer type benefits).

I'm now paying $8/month for $300k Life.

Health isn't the worst (though significantly worse than what I'm used to, like 0 deductibles, 0 minimum, etc), but now at $60/month for myself, $2k deductible and HSA eligible, so that's nice).

 

[nakedfrog]

I guess I don't have it as bad as I thought (compared to previous Employer type benefits).

I'm now paying $8/month for $300k Life.

Health isn't the worst (though significantly worse than what I'm used to, like 0 deductibles, 0 minimum, etc), but now at $60/month for myself, $2k deductible and HSA eligible, so that's nice).

$2k deductible on an HSA-eligible account? Yeah, you've got it pretty good.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well for my wife and I my paycheck deduction is 65 dollars every two weeks (130 bucks a month) for company life insurance 250K each.

Plus we also have a 100% employer paid base life insurance level policy also at 50K.

Hey where have you been?

 

[pcgeek11]

Hey where have you been?

Just taking a vacation from all the BS for a while.
Then my twin brother passed away last week from IPF (Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis).

It wears on a person...

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Just taking a vacation from all the BS for a while.
Then my twin brother passed away last week from IPF (Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis).

It wears on a person...

Aw that’s sad take care man. Gotta be tough with a twin, saw it when my dads twin brother died.

 

[pcgeek11]

Aw that’s sad take care man. Gotta be tough with a twin, saw it when my dads twin brother died.

Thanks.

It is really worse with a identical twin over other siblings. I can't explain it, it just is. My wife don't get it either...

 

[highland145]

@pcgeek11 Sorry to hear. Condolences.

 

[highland145]

 

[deadlyapp]

$2k deductible on an HSA-eligible account? Yeah, you've got it pretty good.

Yeah I feel pretty good amount my benefits after this thread.

I pay about $300/mo for health, $3000 family deductible, HSA eligible
I get $700 paid into my HSA by company each year
$200k life insurance included
$400k life insurance buy up $36/mo
$750k AD&D $20/mo

 

[BarkingGhostar]

How much coverage are you getting for that $340?
I'm putting out seven bucks a month for 70k, but my base coverage is also much more generous than what you're getting.

Actually it is $306, not $340. The $340 is the total of supplementals for me, the wife, AD&D for both, LTD, eye vision and that is it. The $306/month is for US$990K group life just for me.

$2k deductible on an HSA-eligible account? Yeah, you've got it pretty good.

That is just for me and I cannot elect the cheapest medical coverage, but the more expensive ones which for the increased cost don't do much. The cheapest account denies HSA.

I guess the milking is because you do not have to get a physical. No way an off the street policy is going to even come near me.

BTW, I love my wife's benefits even though they are charging me $2400/year to be on her plan. I've had xrays and two MRIs this year that cost me $612 total out of the $2100 claimed.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

$146 , $206 or even $340 MONTHLY for life insurance?

My first question is - How old are you? If it's that expensive to be $2,400+ per year - then it SOUNDS like you're too old to be carrying life insurance (no offense).

Life insurance is there for if you suddenly pass away at a young age that you or your spouse are able to survive single on 1-income for a duration of time. Once kids are mostly on their own, there isn't much (if any) purpose in life insurance.

For reference, I pay roughly $40/month for ~$800k or so in life insurance policy.



Also - life insurance policies (unless it's term limit - which this doesn't sound to be the case if it's through your employer) adjusts all the time based on your age. For example - when I turned 30, my costs received a slight bump. Maybe you turned 50 or something recently?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

View attachment 32445

This lol.

If you think your employer provided plan sucks - I've never seen an employer plan anywhere remotely close to these dumpster fires. ....

40% Coinsurance AFTER a huge deductible.
$1,540/month for a dumpster fire of a plan.


christ just looking at that makes me cringe.

 

[highland145]

This lol.

If you think your employer provided plan sucks - I've never seen an employer plan anywhere remotely close to these dumpster fires. ....

40% Coinsurance AFTER a huge deductible.
$1,540/month for a dumpster fire of a plan.


christ just looking at that makes me cringe.

But I kept my Dr.



Actually, I didn't because he died.

 

[snoopy7548]

Mine is around $200/month in premiums. No HSA, just FSA which I don't contribute to.

 

[bbhaag]

View attachment 32445

Yeah this is what it's like on the exchange. We were on it up until last year and while the coverage wasn't quite that bad(we went with the silver plan)the price was just insane. It really sucks and OMG the government bureaucracy involved was off the fucking charts. It sucked plain and simple. I'm not sure if this was what the Obama Administration had in mind but being on the exchange is an awful experience.

 

[ultimatebob]

Honestly, I dropped my group life insurance when I took my new job. My wife and I (finally) have enough saved up in our IRA for my wife to retire on if I suddenly died at this point.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Honestly, I dropped my group life insurance when I took my new job. My wife and I (finally) have enough saved up in our IRA for my wife to retire on if I suddenly died at this point.

Yes, I also dropped my optional group life insurance once I knew we had the kids' college education costs and our retirement costs pretty well covered. By that time the downward trend of company subsidies (along with the move to age-based rates rather than the same rate for all employees) had made the offered premiums comparable to what I could get from outside sources.

Without getting too political, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that access to medical and insurance benefits is tied to who you work for. And while I am grateful for Medicare, I do not see why old people are any more deserving of government subsidized health care than other people. 🤷‍♂️

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Mine is around $200/month in premiums. No HSA, just FSA which I don't contribute to.

View attachment 32461

If you aren't using your insurance much - you should definitely consider downsizing to a high-deductible plan and putting away as much money as possible into an HSA like a squirrel holding nuts.

There is no greater investment plan than an HSA. PERIOD.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

But I kept my Dr.



Actually, I didn't because he died.

I mean - in all honesty... with a deductible like that... I would in all honesty rather just file for bankruptcy if an emergency actually occurred.

Because at that deductible you would have to do something like spend a week or 3 in a hospital for it to reach that amount.