Jerseygirl

To book a flight at short notice is expensive. An emergency flight back home to visit a sick relative can cost thousands...I've made 2 this year.

oldmanriver

just had the following info

'we confirm that as your employer we will pay 100% of the insurance premium, covering you for medical, dental, and vision, we will also contribute 50% of the premium for family members, on the same coverage basis'

so this is good , right ?

Englishtart

Sounds ok, what is your 50% contribution for family members going to cost you though? Are they going to pay for treatment needed? or just half the premium?

oldmanriver

it has been confirmed to me that it would be half of the premium.

so its half of whatever it would cost for a 39 year old female n/s with no real pre-existing conditions (minor ailments). any guesses ?

Duncan Roberts

Not really. It sounds like you will have separate plans rather than a family one which will mean the plan will be more expensive, on the flip side yours is free. There is another potential issue as well. It's impossible to tell how much the plan will be, you will have to ask them what the paycheck deduction is for a spouse. They should have standard tables that all employees will pay for a specific plan. You need to get far more details on this side of things to know. You need the plan outline, preferably a login to view the plan details online as well as the actual cost of the plan and all the costs to you for the various medical services. One important question should be, is it a group or an individual plan? Also remember, 100% of a junk plan is a whole lot worse than 50% of a great plan.

oldmanriver

I am pretty sure its a good plan, and its a definitely a group plan. Its the same plan all my colleagues have, and they have had no complaints about it (and some have had some pretty severe claims).

I will check with my colleagues about the spouse cover and projected costs..

Duncan Roberts

Just because everyone has the same plan it doesn't mean it's a group one, however I think it's a pretty safe bet to assume it is. Seems weird that they wouldn't offer employee + spouse or family plans, they could save money doing that. Another question to as is if the plan is a PPO, HMO or HSA. You won't be able to figure projected cost (unless you can predict the future!), all you can do is look at the amounts you would be liable for when you have various things done and if you need to meet a certain out of pocket number before the insurance kicks in.

kins

It sounds like an employee + spouse plan to me, with the employee's premium covered 100% and the spouse's premium covered 50%. Similar to what we have.

Duncan Roberts

An employee + spouse and family plans have one premium for the whole plan, not individual ones for the individual members. The way it was said it sounds like he will be on his own plan which is paid for and the spouse will be on their own plan with a 50% payment of the premium.

kins

Whenever I have started work at a place with a group plan, I have had the premium explained to me as:

Employee premium subsidised xx% (has usually been 90%)
Spouse premium subsidised xx% (has been anything from 0% to 75%)
Children premium subsidised xx% (has been anything from 0% to 75%)
...giving a total premium per month that I am liable for.

Sounds like the OP has been given exactly the same information by his employer-to-be about their group plan.

Bob

true, but employer might contribute less for the spouse and or rest of family, which seems to be more popular these days.