Temp job health insurance

[Insomniator]

GF just got a temp job that offers dental for $38 a month (fine, its a decent plan) but health is... $350 a month. That's just... hilarious. She's 26, non smoker, doesn't need anything besides BC. Would never come close to using 4200 a year on doctors.

Looks like you are required to have health insurance by 2014 though? Only 6 months away.

What does private health insurance normally cost? If its $350 a month for everyone then LOL at people affording that in 6 months.

 

[Insomniator]

For the record, my full time job costs me 20 a month in dental and 100 in health... both of which are higher than I thought actually

 

[jaedaliu]

sounds about right if you pay it all yourself. She can get cheaper insurance with less benefits (ends up only being used for a hospital stay after shelling out a few grand first. Maybe $70/month.)

 

[Schfifty Five]

GF just got a temp job that offers dental for $38 a month (fine, its a decent plan) but health is... $350 a month. That's just... hilarious. She's 26, non smoker, doesn't need anything besides BC. Would never come close to using 4200 a year on doctors.

Looks like you are required to have health insurance by 2014 though? Only 6 months away.

What does private health insurance normally cost? If its $350 a month for everyone then LOL at people affording that in 6 months.

I'd decline both and look for my own insurance.

My company offers dental for an individual at less than $16/month.

$350/mo is pretty high. Depends on the coverage though, but I'm sure she could get something better elsewhere.

 

[nickbits]

I'm going to assume that the employer is not subsidizing the cost. If that is the case, that price is reasonable depending on the coverage.

The real cost of my insurance is 600/month for me and my wife. The plans my wife has access to have an unsubsidized cost of >1000/month for 2 people.

A FT job usually pays a good percentage of the cost. The real cost of your health plan is not $100/month.

 

[PenguinPower]

Well, the average cost for single coverage is ~$470/mo; family is ~$1300/mo. Employers, on average, cover 76% of the cost for single coverage, and 66% of the cost for family coverage. That means the average health plan should cost an employee ~$110/mo for single coverage and ~$440/mo for family coverage.

Sounds like she's getting a good deal, especially as a temp. I don't know what the plan looks like though.

Edit: Note, this is based on a national average and will vary from state to state and plan to plan.

 

[yuchai]

What PenguinPower said is right on point for medical. It is very likely that the $350/month for medical already includes a modest subsidy from the company. The full cost i likely to be quite a bit higher.

Keep in mind that her individual health status does not matter one bit in a group plan setting. As a young & healthy individual, she is basically subsidizing some of her older, less healthy colleagues.

The $38 per month for dental is almost certainly the full cost for the coverage.

 

[Insomniator]

Well that's a joke. Not many people can afford $350 a month. I don't know if we are going to bother with that... yeah it can be a life saver if something goes wrong but its not like we can just throw $350 at something that *may* be needed.

 

[Svnla]

OP, if she is healthy and does not have any lingering illness, let her try the high deductible/low premium plans.

Go here = http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ and look around.

 

[highland145]

I'm going to assume that the employer is not subsidizing the cost. If that is the case, that price is reasonable depending on the coverage.

The real cost of my insurance is 600/month for me and my wife. The plans my wife has access to have an unsubsidized cost of >1000/month for 2 people.

A FT job usually pays a good percentage of the cost. The real cost of your health plan is not $100/month.

This. Ours just went up again...$492/mo, $10K deductible, fam of 3 relatively healthy.


Edit: Pics of GF?

 

[Thump553]

$4200 in medical expenses a year paying out of pocket-if she gets anything worse than a sprained ankle she'll lose without insurance.

Wait until you get older-at age 60 a couple in excellent health with a $15,000 co-pay, the monthly premium is the better part of grand. The vast majority of Americans have no idea what health insurance costs because it's rolled into their pay.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Well that's a joke. Not many people can afford $350 a month. I don't know if we are going to bother with that... yeah it can be a life saver if something goes wrong but its not like we can just throw $350 at something that *may* be needed.

welcome to the concept of insurance

 

[nickbits]

insurance has paid off big time for me.. i went from a healthy young adult to not so much in an instant... released from the hospital with a 80k bill. i now average 5k/month in medical bills (mostly drugs) that will probably continue until i die. plus i always seem to need 1 surgery per year.
my point is, 350 a month is a small price to pay.

 

[Insomniator]

welcome to the concept of insurance

I understand the concept, the $100 i pay is reasonable. $350 is what I suppose I'd call life changing when you're only making 40k to begin with. Should 1/5 of your money be dedicated to... emergency broken bone/disease funds? And its not like that 350 takes care of everything. You are still screwed if you actually get hurt, just less so.

I suppose this is a long conversation belonging in P&N. We're just not going to get the insurance until the government requires it, and it will no doubt be more expensive by then.

 

[Insomniator]

insurance has paid off big time for me.. i went from a healthy young adult to not so much in an instant... released from the hospital with a 80k bill. i now average 5k/month in medical bills (mostly drugs) that will probably continue until i die. plus i always seem to need 1 surgery per year.
my point is, 350 a month is a small price to pay.

You are very rare case. Emergency you are ****ed insurance should be what covers this, not your regular sinus infection and doctor checkup insurance.

Paying $350 a month to cover the chance I get some horrible disease is ridiculous.

 

[highland145]

You are very rare case. Emergency you are ****ed insurance should be what covers this, not your regular sinus infection and doctor checkup insurance.

Paying $350 a month to cover the chance I get some horrible disease is ridiculous.

Until you get some horrible disease.

 

[Insomniator]

Until you get some horrible disease.

So whats the limit then? Should I pay $1000 a month just in case? $2000?

People can't even afford the $350.

 

[highland145]

So whats the limit then? Should I pay $1000 a month just in case? $2000?

People can't even afford the $350.

Insurance is for just in case. I have no desire to lose my house, savings, business because of some catastrophic event so I pay my $492...bitch about it...but I pay. Guess you have to decide where your limit is.



And don't worry, Obamacare will take care of you.

 

[yuchai]

I understand the concept, the $100 i pay is reasonable. $350 is what I suppose I'd call life changing when you're only making 40k to begin with. Should 1/5 of your money be dedicated to... emergency broken bone/disease funds? And its not like that 350 takes care of everything. You are still screwed if you actually get hurt, just less so.

I suppose this is a long conversation belonging in P&N. We're just not going to get the insurance until the government requires it, and it will no doubt be more expensive by then.

You have to think about it from the employer's standpoint to understand why they do this. Let's say the actual cost for the coverage is around $450 a month. Again, keep in mind that the company doesn't care that for any individual, the actual amount can be much higher or lower than that. They only care about the average cost per employee, which is the $450.

Let's say they only charge you the $100 that you think is reasonable. This means that they would subsidize $350 per month. That's $4,200 in annual cost. Now divide that into the salary of $40K that you stated. That's over 10% of salary.

Now, think about families. Obviously your gf isn't married, but certainly there may be people who have a family that are covered under the plan. If they choose to take family coverage, the medical costs would be roughly 3 times the $350 per month. That makes the medical cost for the employer over 30% of the salary! Once medical costs get into that level of the pie of total compensation, you get into the issue that people work for the benefits.

As a result, it's common for employers to cut down the medical benefits for temp/part-time workers. Usually they do that by making those workers pay a much bigger share of the healthcare cost.

 

[Insomniator]

You have to think about it from the employer's standpoint to understand why they do this. Let's say the actual cost for the coverage is around $450 a month. Again, keep in mind that the company doesn't care that for any individual, the actual amount can be much higher or lower than that. They only care about the average cost per employee, which is the $450.

Let's say they only charge you the $100 that you think is reasonable. This means that they would subsidize $350 per month. That's $4,200 in annual cost. Now divide that into the salary of $40K that you stated. That's over 10% of salary.

Now, think about families. Obviously your gf isn't married, but certainly there may be people who have a family that are covered under the plan. If they choose to take family coverage, the medical costs would be roughly 3 times the $350 per month. That makes the medical cost for the employer over 30% of the salary! Once medical costs get into that level of the pie of total compensation, you get into the issue that people work for the benefits.

As a result, it's common for employers to cut down the medical benefits for temp/part-time workers. Usually they do that by making those workers pay a much bigger share of the healthcare cost.

I am not blaming the employer at all here, it shouldn't be their job to provide employees insurance in the first place. For a temp job they have even less of an incentive to do so.

I just wish I could just pick out a health insurance plan from a list of competitors, where the minimum price wasn't what I'd call crazy.

 

[Gooberlx2]

What does private health insurance normally cost? If its $350 a month for everyone then LOL at people affording that in 6 months.

I paid for a private HDHP through Humana when I was 25 and healthy. Cost me ~$120 per month. That was 10-ish years ago. I'd guess young, healthy women still have more expensive plans because of the cost of birth control, pregnancies, other female specific issues...

 

[hardhat]

Is the insurance worth $350, looking at the potential risk and the cost of hospitalization? Probably not in your 20s. Why is it so expensive? Because people without insurance or money still get care by going to the emergency room (which tacks multiple thousand dollars onto the price the moment you walk through the door), and hospitals spread the cost to those who can pay to recoup losses. Theoretically after everyone is paying something (ACA) the cost should go down because of fewer ER drivebys. But, other legislation hasn't prevented insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies from continually raising prices for years.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Go here = http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ and look around.

This. Chances are the plan her employer offers has a middle-range deductible, is a PPO, low co-pays, etc...

If she doesn't care for or need all that, she can likely get a cheaper private plan.

 

[soulcougher73]

Ahh health insurance. The biggest scam ever invented. Rates are rediculious.