Premium $0 for family coverage, HDHP with a $4,500 deductible and $6,000 Out of Pocket Max. Company pre-fills a HSA with $4,500 for me every year.
I want to work for your company. Last year my Aetna PPO health coverage for my wife and I cost me $4,500 a year with a $3,000 deductible ($4,500 out of network), 100% paid after deductible was met. Immunizations, preventative screenings (colonoscopy, mammograms), etc. were covered 100%. This year the company switched us to a BCBS HDHP which will now cost my wife and I $6,400 in premiums, $3,000 deductible (out of network deductible $6,000) then the 80/20 split takes effect with an out of pocket max of $8,000 per year after deductible (out of network $12,000 max per year after deductible). The plan my company signed us up for doesn't cover anything but one wellness check (physical). So basically I have to pay $9,400 a year before the insurance pays anything. So much for a HDHP saving me money. What is even worse is that my wife and I live a healthy lifestyle, have never smoked or used tobacco products, don't drink, don't take any medications, are rarely if ever sick, have never had any health issues, and have never had any type of surgery.
The company also tried to screw us on life insurance bought through the company. My life insurance premiums went from $2,000 a year to $5,600 a year. I just signed up for the same coverage I had with my company for $1,700 a year through Amica, so I'm dropping my company policy.
Not that I ever had to use it, but short term disability last year paid 100% of your salary for up to 26 weeks, then long term disability kicked in at 60% of your salary. Now Short term disability pays 60% of your salary for 8 weeks, then long term disability kicks in at 50% of your salary.
Vision has become more costly a $250 premium with a $20 deductible for screenings and limits you to a maximum expenditure for glasses at $140 (specifically limits Costco and Sam's Club to $80), contacts limits are $120 (specifically limits Costco and Sam's Club to $60). I won't be taking vision coverage because I can pay less on my own.
The same with dental coverage with a $250 premium with a $20 deductible per checkup. Not worth the money so I will not be taking the coverage.
The company also instigated a limit to the number of vacation hours you can now bank to 400 hours. If you aren't below 400 hours by the end of the year you lose your vacation hours that are over 400. So much for saving vacation for a rainy day like covering short term sick or disability.
Last but not least, my company got rid of sick leave. We had up to two weeks of sick leave with a doctor's note to cover you in case you got the flue, broke a leg, or something. We now have 5 days of paid time off instead. Anything over the 5 days you now have to take vacation. Texas Instruments went to 5 days of paid time off instead of sick leave when I worked for them in the late 1990's. What happened was everyone treated these 5 days like vacation. Then towards the end of the year when people ran out of paid time off and vacation, they came to work sick and infected everyone else. I literally had to wear a surgical mask at work the last quarter of the year just to keep myself from getting sick.
All this from a major US defense contractor with record breaking profits for the past 10 years.
