<p>Probably a very stupid question but I thought posting on a parents board would be helpful.</p>
<p>I have a full time job for next year and I know it comes with health insurance benefits, but does this mean I don’t pay for health insurance at all or do I pay a small amount usually? How much is normal? I’m trying to budget my expenses.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>It depends on how your employer set up the plan. In many cases, employees pay 20% of the monthly premium, and the employer pays 80%. But some generous employers pay 100% (few and fewer).</p>
<p>You need to pose these questions to the HR person at your place of employment. Once you sign up, that information will be readily available.</p>
<p>The “normal” premium depends on the richness of the plan, how many people in your family are on the plan, and the percentage of the monthly premium you are responsible for.</p>
<p>When you start your new job you will get many papers to fill out. Some of those papers will be related to insurance. Often you will have a couple health insurance options to choose from and usually there is a booklet explaining the costs and benefits associated with each. You should look at this carefully and estimate how much you spend on healthcare and figure out the monthly cost + copays + medication costs etc AND the costs of emergency and surgical and specialist care (the “What If” costs). Then you pick the one that best suits your current needs. You can usually change your insurance annually during pre-determined open enrollment periods.</p>
<p>Usually the cost of the insurance is shared between employer and employee (sometimes one or the other bears the full cost but this is rare). The employer part of your insurance is part of your benefits package and won’t come directly out of your regular paycheck. Your cost will come out of your paycheck as a regular deduction. For a young single person the cost is usually pretty reasonable. It goes up if you add a spouse or family to your insurance. </p>
<p>There should be a human resources person who can help you with any questions you have. Don’t be afraid to ask! </p>
<p>Finally, consider short and long term disability! I would recommend everyone get it AND keep it for their entire lives (you can usually take the same policy with you when you change jobs). People underestimate disability and how helpful it can be!!!</p>
<p>You need to ask the person who handles your benefits. You may pay for health insurance or your company may pay for you. Your insurance then gives you a benefit. You may have a deductible (amount you pay out-of-pocket before it pays). You may be restricted as to which doctors and hospitals you see. (Always check with your insurance provider and the doctor-- not just the doctor-- to make sure it is a participating provider.) You may have a copay (cost per visit) or you may have to file and then pay the % of ucr the insurance determines. You may have to get permission before getting certain types of procedures (typically surgeries, hospital visits, etc). You may be able to see one doctor but have to go to another place when you need lab treatment. You may have different rules and coverage for: healthy visits, sick visits, dental care, prescription, mental health coverage, glasses/ contacts, hospitalizations, lab. Whenever you are beginning a new treatment (e.g. you are sent to a specialist, you seek out a counselor, you need to have a ct-scan), it is a good idea to read your benefits book and call your insurance company to find out what you have to do to get the most coverage.</p>
<p>Thanks. I know it depends on the plan but for a young, single person what is reasonable. Is it like $50/month? I am hoping for a ballpark figure.</p>
<p>You can usually ask for a copy of “the benefits book” which will not be a detailed description of every non-cash component of your compensation, but is likely to be a synopsis of the major elements.</p>
<p>There will be a chart in the back which will show you what the cost will be to you (out of pocket) both for coverage as well as for various medical services. So a family of 6 will pay more in premiums than you will (assuming you have no dependents); there will be variables such as your co-pay on Dr’s visits (it could be $10 per visit on up to $30 depending on the plan, and it could vary- a low co-pay if you go to a Dr. “in the plan” vs. if you go to someone you choose.) All of this will be described in the booklet, and then the costs will be listed in a chart at the end.</p>
<p>You may have the opportunity to purchase extra coverage for vision, dental, or what’s known as a “premium” or boutique plan. Whether these are worth the money depends on your own health and medical history.</p>
<p>In general, if you are in good health, with no chronic conditions or regular medications, and you don’t smoke or engage in other risky behaviors, you are probably better off with the lowest cost option if you get to choose. The extras such as dental insurance don’t make much sense if you just need a cleaning twice a year (it’s often cheaper to just tell your dentist you’re paying out of pocket and get a discount right then and there).</p>
<p>There will be a benefits rep at your company who can answer all of these questions for you.</p>
<p>Congrats on getting a full time job!!!</p>
<p>How it works is that if you choose a plan with a high deductible, that will be the year something expensive happens to you. If you choose a plan that is more expensive, but with a low deductible you will never get sick. </p>
<p>But nevertheless congrats on getting a job with benefits - you’ll need to ask what’s included there can be a huge variation.</p>
<p>Mathmom- love your comment. Sort of like your transmission blowing the day after your auto warranty expires…</p>
<p>“I know it depends on the plan but for a young, single person what is reasonable. Is it like $50/month? I am hoping for a ballpark figure.”</p>
<p>If you are covered at work, it’s probably a group policy and group policies do not take your age or health into account. The cost of your monthly premium will be the same as those of a 60yo non-healthy person. Insurance costs can be very different depending on the state, the size of the group, the coverage, etc, and also how much your employer covers. Some employers cover almost all of their employees’ premium. Some cover very little.</p>
<p>coffeee, health insurance is expensive. My group policy through work for my family is over $1K/month. My employer pays most of it, but I still pay over $300/month. </p>
<p>A policy for a single person will cost less than a family policy, and how much of the premium your employer pays is something you can find out from the company.</p>
<p>Congrats on getting a job, and especially one with health bennies!!</p>
<p>mathmom, lol! I was without insurance for a few months while I was a student, and wouldn’t you know, that was the semester I needed surgery and was hospitalized for over a week.</p>
<p>Some employers offer several options. For example, in California many employers off the employee the choice of using a ‘traditional’ plan that allows the person to see any doctor, a ‘PPO or EPO’ that allows the person to see any doctor who’s a member of their plan but this doesn’t include all doctors, an ‘HMO’ that has further restrictions on doctors and facilities that may be used by the person, and even ‘Kaiser’ which is a sort of self-contained HMO (i.e. they provide their own ‘branded’ hospitals and doctors). Generally the more flexible the plan, the more it’ll cost. The lower the deductible, the more it’ll cost. Depending on the employer and the combo of options (traditional, HMO, etc.) and deductible/co-pay, your cost as an employee will vary.</p>
<p>For my family I’m always willing to pay more to get a more flexible plan. This costs me more in premiums and more with the deductible but I’m willing to do that for choice. I’m more concerned about having access to what I want in the event of a serious situation than paying an extra $100 deductible or extra $15 in co-pay for the routine stuff. For a young healthy person a higher deductible is usually the way to go but you’ll need to work the math with different scenarios.</p>
<p>Even though you haven’t started working there yet, contact Human Resources at the company and request a brochure or other info on their health benefits (and other benefits). I’d expect they’d be happy to provide this. Once you have it you can also start thinking about what to do with a 401K program as well (i.e. contirbute at least to the level that gets you company matching funds if they offer it).</p>
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<p>I agree. Disability can happen at anytime so accepting the optional “long term disability insurance” would be in the employee’s best interest.</p>
<p>Hmm. I’m an employer in CA. We have a group plan and we definitely pay based on age. A single person with no chlidren costs me $292. per month. We currently pay the whole premium but my insurance broker says that is very unusual. I would be surprised if $50. per month is enough to budget for the OP for health insurance. (Although I suppose if you went with the 20 percent employee, 80 percent employer figures and my premium number it would come out to around $58.</p>
<p>I agree that the HR department will be happy to supply you with these materials & it’s great to start reviewing them & figure out what your options are. 401K and other retirement programs are good to start thinking about as well.</p>
<p>Some employers have more plan options than others–larger ones tend to offer more choices than smaller places. Congrats on getting a job, especially one that offers insurance! That’s a great feat these days!</p>
<p>thanks everyone! I appreciate the explanations… apparently I choose what plan I want on my first day of work. Maybe I’ll call HR ahead of time and see what my options are so I can think about it.</p>
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<p>Been a long time since I was young or single…</p>
<p>Usually the cheapest option is an HMO–the most expensive is one that allows you to go to any doctor you want.</p>
<p>Are you going to work for a big company? When my son got hired last summer, I was able to find his company’s employee health plan on their web site – I was impressed, and thought it was a very good plan, but I didn’t look at what it was costing my son. Anyway – you might want to check to see whether you can get some of the info you are looking for off your employers web site. (I found it for my son’s company just by Googling: “companyname employee benefits” or “companyname employee health plan”).</p>
<p>How it works depends on three things. Is employer self-insuring? If so, the plan is governed by federal law. If the employer is smaller, usually under 200 people, the plan is governed by state law and you may be forced into an HMO relationship. The third thing is what the employer wants and is willing to pay for. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that health insurance is purchased by your employer and therefore that it reflects your employer’s view of the importance of tradeoffs between care and cost. Occasionally, especially if you are young, the employer requires that you pay a fraction of the premium, and you live in a state with reasonable health insurance regulation, you can purchase a better policy on your own.</p>
<p>If you can get a plan that qualifies for a Health Savings Account do it–and fund the HSA every single year. It gives peace of mind, a tax deduction, and, if you have average health over your lifetime, is a terrific savings vehicle. HSA balances are totally yours, tax free, after 65. They also let you purchase health care, tax free, that your insurance may not cover. The classic examples are braces for kids, durable medical equipment that insurance doesn’t cover and a variety of professional services not generally covered by standard health insurance. HSAs are much more flexible, and cover many more things, than a standard employer insurance policy.</p>
<p>Some employers offer plans that are HMO or point of service only. This means that you have to take the medicine that the HMO offers or you have to pay cash. Out-of-state benefits are generally limited. If you come down with something that is difficult to diagnose and treat, you may spend a lot of time waiting for care or you may be denied care entirely. </p>
<p>Two things that you should absolutely check on: the first is the plan maximum and the annual stop-loss on the employer plan. Usual commercial limits are $3 million per person for commercial plans, some are going to $5 million. Stop-loss is the total amount of financial exposure that you have in a year if the absolute worst happens. It is deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. You need to work towards having that amount available somewhere.</p>
<p>HMO plans often have limited options for out-of-network transport and treatment. If you were to become severely ill and you might need to be treated close to your family which is outside the HMO network, this might be denied. Then your expenses could be enormous. If you travel extensively you might need separate medical evacuation coverage–many commercial plans have limits on air ambulance.</p>
<p>It often turns out that a policy with a higher deductible, say $2,000 a year but with zero coinsurance after the deductible, can have a lower total financial exposure, and provide better coverage if it qualifies for an HSA, than one with a deductible of $1,000 and a variety of copays up to a higher deductible.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that health savings accounts are not the same as health reimbursement accounts–one is your money that you take with you when you leave an employer, the other is the employer’s money and stays with the employer when you leave.</p>
<p>Finally, establish a relationship with a physician, even if it is only for tetanus shots or the occasional physical. Pay cash if need be. And stick with the physician regardless of network changes. Someday you may need advice on what to do medically from someone that you know, and that established relationship can pay off in spades if only for referrals to good people. Same goes for a dentist.</p>
<p>If you will need to do any company travel outside the US, make sure that the health plan you select will cover you if you need medical care while on business. If your company does not have a plan that will do this, find out how they will provide coverage if you are on company business. My company has 3 different plans, and only one will pay for emergency care outside of the US.</p>