NBR: Monthly health insurance premiums

jjgal

We're looking at changing health insurance plans when I go on maternity leave so that I can take more than 12 weeks off (hoping for 18 months or so).  We've always been on my plan as a city employee.  I'm a teacher.  Anyway, I guess I'm out of touch with how much people pay out of pocket when they work for a private company.  If you don't mind sharing, what's the monthly rate that you pay for your family?  

It looks like if we take DH's plan it'll cost us 800/month with no dental plan. Yikes! 

ashcody2

Right now I only have insurance on myself. If I were to get insurance for fiance, baby, and myself that will cost $815.15/mo. Outrageous IMO, especially because we don't make a ton to begin with!

Edit: Just double-checked and it actually will cost me $1630.30, I have to pay twice a month, each time I get paid.

brianabrad

Wow! Those all seem really high to me. My monthly through my employer is about $100 for just me and will jump closer to $250 when baby arrives. My dental is another $20 a month but that covers DH and I. We have UHC and I believe my max out of pocket is $2500.

Kie310

I pay nothing out of pocket for the coverage. The whole family is on my PPO through work. Medical, Dental, no eye. We also have a FSA I can put up to $2500 in each year. That I can use for eye, deductibles, prescriptions, co-pays...

 

(ETA: Deductible is $1500 per person. $3K max. 80/20 after that. Dental is $50 copay a year 80/20 for dental work. Nothing (other than the $50) for preventative.)

ETAA: I can put $5K a year for child expenses in the FSA as well, separate from the $2500 max for other things. 

EAMommy

Wow! Those are some high premiums! DH and I pay about $100/month and it will go up to about $125/month when LO arrives. Our co-pays are $40/visit. We have an OOP max of $2500 but we more than met that by April of this year with all our infertility treatments (which count toward the OOP but are still charged even when we reach the OOP maximum). Maternity is covered 100% (once the OOP max is met) with a $600 fee if I end up in a C-section...

laurapacheco

Kie310:

I pay nothing out of pocket. The whole family is on my PPO through work. Medical, Dental, no eye. We also have a FSA I can put up to $2500 in each year. That I can use for eye, deductibles, prescriptions, co-pays...

Exact same boat with us-- we are on DH's PPO through the DC Plumber's Union, and I also have a FSA through my work that I can put it up to $5k a year. My FSA will also reimburse for childcare in addition to the other things PP mentioned. 

 

bennikki

DH and I insure ourselves privately, and we pay $550.00 per month right now (it would be lower, but DH is a tobacco user), with 100% paid after our $3000.00 deductible.  One thing to keep in mind is where you live.  I'm in MN, and our medical care is some of the top in the world, so I don't if that makes a difference in what kind of deal you can get. 

lotus_blossom

We pay just over $700 a month through my husband's insurance but we only pay for myself and DS since DH's work pays for him.   We used to go through my work for insurance but switched about this time last year when DH got a new job because his work provides better insurance (lower deductibles, lower copays, no referrals, etc.) and I was paying the same OOP for all three of us, so we weren't paying any more for better coverage. (plus I stopped working as of the 1st of the year to stay home with DS, so it just worked out in the end)

BLPL101

brianabrad:

Wow! Those all seem really high to me. My monthly through my employer is about $100 for just me and will jump closer to $250 when baby arrives. My dental is another $20 a month but that covers DH and I. We have UHC and I believe my max out of pocket is $2500.

I have UHC and I believe ours is the same. I'm in TN.

cluebee

So much of this depends on the state you live in, unfortunately. When I lived in Florida, I got really good health insurance for like $50 a month. Then I moved to Louisiana and my health insurance was $190 a month for just me. After we got married, we both wanted to use my insurance and our monthly costs went up to $475 a month. Oh and we still had out of pocket costs, too. Joy!

I was so excited to get on Tricare that it's not funny. 

starz57182

We don't pay any premiums, but we have a high deductible. It's $2500 per person. Once you reach $2500, they pay 80% - then once you reach the max out of pocket of $3000, they pay everything 100% - even Rx. 

Oh, that is all per person, but there is a family deductible of $7500, and a family OOP max of $9000 (even if there are 10 people in the family). The company provides the first $1500 for us in a fund, so really the most we could pay in medical expenses for a whole family in a year is $7500. A lot, but better than the deductibles I've seen other people pay just to have coverage.  Also, things like well child visits and pap exams are covered 100% regardless of where you are in your deductible, with no co-pays. So if we stuck to basic and preventative care, (and kept sick visits to less than $1500) we wouldn't pay anything at all. That hasn't happened yet, thanks to being pregnant two years in a row, I have reached the max both times

aly&jj

Wow, I guess I really shouldn't be complaining about how expensive I think our insurance is. We are insured through my husband and pay a little over $500/mo for medical and dental. That covers our whole family, including the new baby. Our copay's are $25 and we each have a $1000 deductible. After the deductible is met we pay 10%.

==N==

$600something a month for insurance, not including dental. $4000 deductible and $10000 OOP max. I hate insurance.

==N==

The worst part about having thee babies in January is that the deductible resets so we get the 2012 deductible and the 2013 deductible to pay.

simplein06

jjgal:

We're looking at changing health insurance plans when I go on maternity leave so that I can take more than 12 weeks off (hoping for 18 months or so).  We've always been on my plan as a city employee.  I'm a teacher.  Anyway, I guess I'm out of touch with how much people pay out of pocket when they work for a private company.  If you don't mind sharing, what's the monthly rate that you pay for your family?  

It looks like if we take DH's plan it'll cost us 800/month with no dental plan. Yikes! 

Can you explain what changing insurance has to do with being able to stay out for 18 months?  I don't see how the 2 are related

jjgal

simplein06:

jjgal:

We're looking at changing health insurance plans when I go on maternity leave so that I can take more than 12 weeks off (hoping for 18 months or so).  We've always been on my plan as a city employee.  I'm a teacher.  Anyway, I guess I'm out of touch with how much people pay out of pocket when they work for a private company.  If you don't mind sharing, what's the monthly rate that you pay for your family?  

It looks like if we take DH's plan it'll cost us 800/month with no dental plan. Yikes! 

Can you explain what changing insurance has to do with being able to stay out for 18 months?  I don't see how the 2 are related

We're currently on a health insurance plan through my employer.  I can stay covered for 12 weeks through FMLA, but if I take off more time than that we'll either have to pay for COBRA or go on a different health insurance plan, either through DH's job or a private plan.  So we need to figure out our options before we decide for sure how long my leave will be.  

I am completely disgusted with health insurance in our country right now.  We aren't low income so we don't qualify for any state or federal subsidies, and DH works for a small private company that would offer him decent insurance but premiums go WAY up for a family.  But I think it would be ridiculous for me to go back to work earlier than I want to just so we can stay on my health insurance.  Although my plan is VERY good.  NO monthly premium, and some visits but not all have $15-$20 copays.   

starz57182

==N==:

The worst part about having thee babies in January is that the deductible resets so we get the 2012 deductible and the 2013 deductible to pay.

This happened to me last time! Our insurance plan year starts July 1st, and I had my baby three weeks into July. Fortunately, my OB office doesn't bill for visits until the baby is born, so I didn't pay for those until the second deductible (and I don't have co-pays).

But, unfortunately, I did have ultrasounds, blood work, and an emergency hospital visit that went towards the deductible before July. Luckily, once I had my baby in July, I met my OOP max, and was covered 100% until this July 1st, which covered the blood work and early ultrasounds for this baby. And now I'm on the new deductible, but I'll max out again by January, and be covered 100% again until July. 

Insurance is not a good time.  

+lisamarie+

We pay our insurance privately OOP.  We have BCBS and pay about $475 a month for 4 of us with no dental, no maternity rider, and a very high deductible (cant remember what it is).