It's that time of the year - Health Insurance Crazyness

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Alienwho

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
6,766
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So my company is rolling out new insurance this year, because I guess last year we took our insurance provider to town and cost them quite a bit of money.

So our new provider is offering the employee+spouse coverage for $400/month cost to employees (does not include employer cost).

If I take my spouse off coverage, insurance is free, completely covered by the employer. Then I went to the website of the insurance provider and got a quote to insure my wife for $87/month for the exact same coverage!

Guess what I ended up doing.
 
FoBoT

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,082
12
76
fobot.com
i did that one month ago
they boned us, our share of the cost for family coverage went up another $30/paycheck AND they moved us from a straight co-pay to "co-insurance", which is secret code for "you get to pay 25% of EVERYTHING"

go for an office visit that was a $25 copay last year, new plan you pay 25% of whatever they feel like charging for the visit

basically with my new plan, i will stop going to the doctor
which begs the question why did i even get a plan, @ +$400/month ? just shoot me
 
A

Alienwho

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
6,766
0
76
I don't know what you mean by extra coverage, but I simply enrolled her as a single user for $87/month, whereas if she would have remained on my company plan it would have been $400.
 
A

Alienwho

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
6,766
0
76
FoBoT said:
i did that one month ago
they boned us, our share of the cost for family coverage went up another $30/paycheck AND they moved us from a straight co-pay to "co-insurance", which is secret code for "you get to pay 25% of EVERYTHING"

go for an office visit that was a $25 copay last year, new plan you pay 25% of whatever they feel like charging for the visit

basically with my new plan, i will stop going to the doctor
which begs the question why did i even get a plan, @ +$400/month ? just shoot me
Click to expand...

I hear you man. I was all geared up for major bonage this year, because the rates went way up. Strangely enough I am now going to be saving over $300/month from last year.
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,472
3,969
126
Individual insurance is often cheaper than buying through work if you are young and healthy and if your workplace isn't. That sounds like the exact situation you are in.

Take me for example, for BCBS insurance, I can buy it through my work (university with lots of old professors) for $400/month. The work covers a good chunk of it, but it still would cost me ~ $150/month. I could get the exact same BCBS insurance individually for $90/month. Why? Because individually I am considered young and healthy but in a group I am considered average for my workforce (which is old and sick). I ended up buying a cheaper BCBS plan for ~$35/month. Then I got married and joined my wife's plan since it is such a good plan through her company.

Note: at $87/month your wife probably isn't covered for pregnancy whereas your company probably did pay for pregnancies in her old plan. Just keep that in mind.
 
A

Alienwho

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
6,766
0
76
dullard said:
Note: at $87/month your wife probably isn't covered for pregnancy whereas your company probably did pay for pregnancies in her old plan. Just keep that in mind.
Click to expand...
That's exactly right, but I hear our employer maternity coverage sucked anyway. Our plan was to get AFLAC when we wanted to have a baby, but we're not planning on worrying about that until a year from now anyway (hoping no accidents happen).
 
techs

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
Alienwho said:
So my company is rolling out new insurance this year, because I guess last year we took our insurance provider to town and cost them quite a bit of money.

So our new provider is offering the employee+spouse coverage for $400/month cost to employees (does not include employer cost).

If I take my spouse off coverage, insurance is free, completely covered by the employer. Then I went to the website of the insurance provider and got a quote to insure my wife for $87/month for the exact same coverage!

Guess what I ended up doing.
Click to expand...

Seems to good to be true.
Are you sure you are not buying a supplemental plan for your wife? One that provided coinsurance for her insurance to cover what hers doesn't cover?
If so, then since she doesn't have any insurance except the coinsurance, her plan coverage would be invalid and/or, just actually never have to pay anything since she did not have a primary plan in place and therefore you are paying for some coverage for her that might be worthless.
 
A

Alienwho

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
6,766
0
76
Nope, it's not supplemental. You can't sign up for supplemental when the work insurance form shows she has been waived.

She is young and healthy and I had her go through the sign up without me, not mentioning me or my employer at all. It's just as if she was single and did it alone.

They offered her a plan as low as $32/month with a $7500 deductable. This plan even covered 100% on regular doctor visits and had a $15/co-pay on prescription drugs. It covered everything else 100% after the deductable was met.

I can see why some of you are in disbelief, but check out the difference here on a 40 year old female vs a 22 year old.

https://www.humana-one.com/secured/individual-health-insurance-quotes.asp
 
Last edited:
coloumb

coloumb

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,069
0
81
Our [former] company had awesome insurance prior to the merger - free if you were single, and a small fee if you had dependents/spouse.

Post merger, we took on the other company's insurance plan - $360.00 a month for the family plan, $280.00 a month for the singular plan - with a $30.00 co-pay for both plans. "Share the cost burdens" they claim.

I'm about ready to give them the middle finger and see if I can find a cheaper plan on my own [the latest batch of insurance commercials CLAIM they have affordable rates]...
 
krylon

krylon

Diamond Member
Nov 17, 2001
3,927
4
81
Alienwho said:
Nope, it's not supplemental. You can't sign up for supplemental when the work insurance form shows she has been waived.

She is young and healthy and I had her go through the sign up without me, not mentioning me or my employer at all. It's just as if she was single and did it alone.

They offered her a plan as low as $32/month with a $7500 deductable. This plan even covered 100% on regular doctor visits and had a $15/co-pay on prescription drugs. It covered everything else 100% after the deductable was met.

I can see why some of you are in disbelief, but check out the difference here on a 40 year old female vs a 22 year old.

https://www.humana-one.com/secured/individual-health-insurance-quotes.asp
Click to expand...

pics of your wife?
 
Gooberlx2

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
Alienwho said:
So my company is rolling out new insurance this year, because I guess last year we took our insurance provider to town and cost them quite a bit of money.

So our new provider is offering the employee+spouse coverage for $400/month cost to employees (does not include employer cost).

If I take my spouse off coverage, insurance is free, completely covered by the employer. Then I went to the website of the insurance provider and got a quote to insure my wife for $87/month for the exact same coverage!

Guess what I ended up doing.
Click to expand...

I wish we could do that. But even if they'd cover my wife's pre-existing conditions, the rates for individual insurance are entirely unaffordable for us.
 
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