Hi all, I'm trying to figure out my new insurance. I'm Canadian and so we don't have private medical insurance up there and I had the good fortune to move down here with Microsoft and have everything covered regarding insurance. So, I know relatively nothing about co--pays, deductibles, etc. We are moving to California and are going to be under Anthem insurance, which is supposedly the best in the State, BUT, from the hand-outs the company gave us, it looks as if we will have a $5,000 deductible, 20% co-pays and a monthly premium of $750 for our family. My question is really with the monthly premium. This seems really high from all the people I've spoken with recently. I have heard of people paying $150 a month for families or less, but haven't heard anything this high. This is supposedly the cost of the premium AFTER the company has paid 50% of the family's and 85% of my husband (the employee's) benefits. Is that crazy high or is that normal for the U.S.? I think it sounds crazy and so does my sister - she pays $1,000 per year for her insurance and it's pretty good. Also, if this is a raw deal, can a family just go out and get insurance on their own? Would it be cheaper and could we get good enough insurance? I have three small boys (twin 2-year-olds and a four-year-old) and am kind of freaking out about the change in insurance right now. Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks in advance
Edit: The insurance is through a small start-up company, not Microsoft. And my sister, who pays $1,000 a year, lives in North Hollywood, but her husband is a director/producer.
the 5k deductible is probably for hospital stuff. It does sound high. I'd shop around. I have blue shield, with only a 1500 deductible for anything that takes place at the hospital, other than that the co pays and rx's are very reasonable.
Sounds darn good to me!
We own our company and insure privately. We pay over $1000/ month... We have a $15,000 deductible. Any employee is covered at 100%. Our cost. Pretty darn good perk in my book!!!
Basically, we are covered for the worst case scenario. No dental or vision included. Dental is a waste of $$ if you offset the premiums vs what they truly cover.
You are in California, one of if not the highest state in the country for premiums. It sounds quite fair. If you go to private insurance expect to pay well over 2,000 a month for your family and the coverage won't be as good.
those rates sound pretty good. we pay over 900/month for my husband and son to be added to my work policy. we also have 20% copay on non-basic appts with a 3K deductable. Microsoft is unusual (and awesome) for insurance costs.
You can get insurance on your own- i doubt you'll get a better deal for equivalent coverage. I think Costco still has personal health insurance in CA (they dont here in WA)- their business policies used to be pretty good so it might be worth checking their personal ones.
good luck!
I would say your sister is one lucky lady! We pay, for a family of 4, about $1100 a month. Before I became a stay at home mom, I think we still paid about $400/month and that was for 2 people- before the economy and rates became horrible. Unfortunately, smaller companies cannot get the great rates that someone like Microsoft can (basically, the bigger the entity, the better the insurance is). Your sister probably gets a rate that might be with the Hollywood guild or something - they might be able to get really great rates due to the sheer volume of people that are in the entertainment business.
Yes, you can look for insurance on your own - I have heard of many out there but of course right now, none come to mind (most of them aren't where I live but I see those commercials on TV all the time). The ones that I have checked out for where I live haven't been any better than what my husband has right now.
It is really hard to pay that much in - insurance every month and then to pay large co-pays and it still doesn't cover 100% really gets to me too. I will check out the rest of the posts here too - you posed a really good question that hits all of us where it hurts! :)
Good luck!
Hello, welcome to America and our fabulous medical insurance premiums! I work for a public university and my personal family contribution is $15 a month with $15 copays. No deductible. BUT on my paystub it shows that the university is paying upwards of $1000/month for my family of 3. It's a phenomenal deal and I feel very blessed to have it. I do know that private industry is different and it really depends on your employer. I would think that Microsoft, since it's so large, would have a better deal for their employees, but perhaps not. The only thing that I can tell you is to comparison shop. Good luck!
That sucks, but yes it's way better than private insurance. California insurance isn't the best. microsoft insurance was great, wasn't it? I do medical billing and love those policies.
Sounds pretty normal. When we used to use my husbands insurance through work we paid about 150.00 a paycheck which was weekly so that was 600.00 a month. When they went to a high deductible health plan thanks to Obama-care we dropped them completely. We have insurance elsewhere so were able to. You do need to shop around and realize everything is changing with medical insurance from the approval of Obama-care. Also, if you file American taxes some insurance stuff is tax deductible.
I know stinks ... We pay that a month also! But it would be more expensive on your own policy I bet..
I don't know what our family premium is... Our dental deductible (how much you pay before insurance kicks in) is $100 per person. Our medical copay is $25 per visit and $30 for prescriptions (per person), the bill on what we owe will come later.
You could get insurance on your own, but those are not usually very good coverage wise, so look around and rad the fine print. As for your sister paying $1000 a year? Wow, we pay about that every two months for a family of 4.
It is possible to get private insurance that covers what you need depending on the state you are in. Take a look at your options. For example if you are not planning on having more children you could opt for a plan that doesn't offer maternity benefits. The main key is to not show a lapse in coverage while you make a decision.
And yes, the rates you mention sound in-line with regular rates.
If I remember rightly a Canadian does not lose their insurance when abroad.
