g1ant

Mrs Giant is going for an interview for a new job. It looks like the employer is not going to provided much in the way of benefits. Being that her current job has a pretty good rance of medical, dental and optical benefits, how much does she need to get in additional salary to be as well off.

I came up with a figure of 12 x $850 a month (around 10k per annum) for family of three. That sounds a lot. Is that roughly what people on this list are paying?

scrubbedexpat099

Tax?

Medical benefits in the US are not taxed whilst you have to buy individual cover out of post tax dollars.

I think the average cost in the US was $13,000 per year but that includes a big range.

Elvira

Our medical insurance (family of 5) amounts to $996 a month, including both our and employer's contributions. (This is for an HMO.)

But if you wanted to pay similar cover on the open market, it would cost considerably more.

Can't your wife go on your insurance though?

farmerwife

The situation may be changing - from what President Bush said in his State of the Union address.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...-plan-qa_x.htm

But it may never happen. That makes it difficult when you have to plan a job change and figure out the health insurance benefits.

g1ant

Well she could, but that would involve me getting a job!!!!! Worst case scenario.

scrubbedexpat099

And a very sexist assumption in the first place.

Tracym

It would depend. In a group policy (through employer) medical conditions anyone might have don't generally make a difference. Pre-existing conditions could make a huge difference in cost.

And as some have said, what is paid through a group policy is not necessarily the same as individual. And dental and optical would generally be extra. IMO perhaps not necessary, unless you think someone is likely to incur significant expenses there.

An insurance broker should be able to give you some quotes from different companies. It varies so much depending upon your ages and health.

AdobePinon

About $630 (employer+employee) for two people for me. Plus ~$40 for dental. Given that the premiums have a habit of going up by double digit %s some years, and your salary won't, I'd argue for signficantly more.

Tracym

Actually, there is another significant thing to consider, I think. Forgive me, I might not remember all the details, but a insurance broker should be able to tell you.

If you are with a group, they have to cover any medical conditions you might have. If you get individual insurance, they can probably drop you. And then the real problem begins.

If you go to a new job with health cover, and IF you have had continuous cover with a group, pre-existing conditions must be covered immediately.

Individual insurance has no such requirements.

If you go with a new group then, and haven't been with a group for some time period (90 days?) I am not sure that they will have to cover pre-existing conditions. EDIT - won't have to comver them IMMEDIATELY

I might not be totally correct, check up on that information, but I think so.

AdobePinon

Usually employer-paid insurance covers you for most pre-existings regardless of history, but you are right about individual cover - you can get crapped on pretty badly.

Tracym

Some do, but not all. But there is a new-ish law about this. They are REQUIRED to, but not for 6 months or something if you've had a gap in coverage. And I would not trust an insurance company to do anything they didn't have to.

I'll have to take a look for it - it talks about 'creditable coverage' - which by the way, the NHS is included. So for someone coming over and working, it wouldn't be a problem.

I'll take a look and try to find what I'm talking about.

Tracym

Well here it is (I think). I hope you are fluent in reading Swahili.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html

I'll have to read it again when I am more awake and less mellow, but I might be wrong, they might include individual insurace and 'creditable'. But I do know individual can get $$$ or impossible with medical problems.

AdobePinon

What a mess. At first glance it looks like a convenient way to force people to pay for overpriced COBRA coverage between jobs, but I didn't bother reading the details.

All I know is that my employer has you fully covered including pre-existings from the day you walk in the job. Other employers give you no coverage at all for an initial period. Don't know the practical effect of the pre-existing exclusions allowed under law.

Tracym

This is actually a pretty good thing I guess. I'm not sure how much it is helping the OP, but if I was leaving a group plan for individual, I think I would want to understand the ramifications of this.

What they are doing (I think) is basically rewarding people for being 'responsible' and keeping continuous coverage, by forcing insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. I have known people in the past who simply could not change jobs, because of a pre-existing condition.

It also limits the time for pre-existing conditions - if you weren't treated, etc. for it within 6 months, it doesn't exist. So they can't exclude old things.

On thing I am very curious about... the NHS counts as creditable coverage. Now, I believe (tell me if I'm wrong) you are entitled to use the NHS simply by being a British citizen. Being in the US doesn't cancel that - you could return to the UK on the next plane and the NHS will treat you. So... if even if a UK citizen didn't have any other cover, would this force the insurance company to cover everything from day one?

AdobePinon

I might be (and probaly am) wrong, but I had the impression that expats are only entitled to emergency cover under NHS.