Insurance Costs

girlmama83 · May 2013

Okay okay I know we all have different insurance plans so I'm obviously not judging how much it will cost us to add baby to health insurance based on anyone elses plans....

BUT

DB called his health insurance company today (blue cross blue shield) to figure out how much it would cost to add a dependent to his plan and they told him $1000 A MONTH?

WHAT?! There's no way he heard that correctly.. is there? I'm still on my mothers health insurance and am able to stay on until I turn 26 so that's why we were looking to add the baby to his.. but holy crap.

Is that normal or does it sound insane to anyone else?!

lkobriant · May 2013

Sounds a little high but with all the different insurance scenarios we've dealt with I honestly wouldn't doubt it. It all depends on the plan. DH's last insurance was horrible! Seriously, it was only a hundred or so short of COBRA which is basically paying out of pocket.

Texasmomma13 · May 2013

That's just crazy. I would double check that quote.

girlmama83 · May 2013

BreanneL24:
Actually that doesn't sound too outrageous if he is going from single to family coverage, especially depending on the plan. Oh the good old days of single coverage. Don't get me wrong, 1000 dollars is a ton of money, but insurance sucks. If I were you, I'd see what other plans his company offers. You may be able to even get private insurance for cheaper than he would pay for that plan.

We will be definitely be looking into other options!!

It's just 1000 for DB and the baby... they told him to add me too it would be 1500!

Cosmic+Love · May 2013

BreanneL24:
Actually that doesn't sound too outrageous if he is going from single to family coverage, especially depending on the plan. Oh the good old days of single coverage. Don't get me wrong, 1000 dollars is a ton of money, but insurance sucks. If I were you, I'd see what other plans his company offers. You may be able to even get private insurance for cheaper than he would pay for that plan.

Sorry to agree with this. Some insurance companies have three tier plans where there is a single rate, a spousal rate (insured plus spouse only), and a family rate (which would cover all dependents). It does seem like a huge jump, but it is normally the same rate for one, two, and three kids plus a spouse. Does that make sense?

ETA: I'll give you our company's rates for health insurance since we are both in MA. This is through Harvard Pilgrim (BCBS was more expensive). Single: $500/mo.; Spousal: $1,000/mo.; Family: $1,500/mo. That is for an HMO plan with a $2,000/person deductible.

lialakacz · May 2013

My husband was looking into BCBS as well, since he now works government we thought it would be cheaper. For just the two of us, on my insurance, it's $80 something a pay period, and I don't need referrals, and it has a built in HRA that the company pays, etc...His plan is BCBS, for the two of us, $200 a pay period, and it's an HMO i believe (so we always have to stay in network and get referrals)....Not sure why it's so expensive...I don't even want to think about how much it will be with a kid.

girlmama83 · May 2013

Cosmic+Love:
BreanneL24:
Actually that doesn't sound too outrageous if he is going from single to family coverage, especially depending on the plan. Oh the good old days of single coverage. Don't get me wrong, 1000 dollars is a ton of money, but insurance sucks. If I were you, I'd see what other plans his company offers. You may be able to even get private insurance for cheaper than he would pay for that plan.
Sorry to agree with this. Some insurance companies have three tier plans where there is a single rate, a spousal rate (insured plus spouse only), and a family rate (which would cover all dependents). It does seem like a huge jump, but it is normally the same rate for one, two, and three kids plus a spouse. Does that make sense?

I understand what you're saying, does it make a difference though that I am not involved in this plan at all? It would just be DB and the baby? 1000 a month for a single employee and one dependent?

Cosmic+Love · May 2013

lindsey61811:
Cosmic+Love:
BreanneL24:
Actually that doesn't sound too outrageous if he is going from single to family coverage, especially depending on the plan. Oh the good old days of single coverage. Don't get me wrong, 1000 dollars is a ton of money, but insurance sucks. If I were you, I'd see what other plans his company offers. You may be able to even get private insurance for cheaper than he would pay for that plan.
Sorry to agree with this. Some insurance companies have three tier plans where there is a single rate, a spousal rate (insured plus spouse only), and a family rate (which would cover all dependents). It does seem like a huge jump, but it is normally the same rate for one, two, and three kids plus a spouse. Does that make sense?
I understand what you're saying, does it make a difference though that I am not involved in this plan at all? It would just be DB and the baby? 1000 a month for a single employee and one dependent?

Just added a little info to my post above. It seems like it would be fair for the insurance companies to have a separate plan like you are describing, but in my case I haven't found any while researching plans for our small business. It sucks. And since the new health care act was passed, our insurance has increased 20 percent.

ScarletOflaherty · May 2013

No, you can't add a baby at the spouse rate, and it doesn't sound like they do an employee+children plan.

Your best bet is to look into getting the baby on their own plan through BC/BS or something.

WheeLinTheSky3 · May 2013

That seems like a lot but doesnt surprise me. I would call back to double check. We have BCBS but it wasnt a huge difference to go from spouse to family coverage. Have him use the wording of famil coverage vs. dependent and ask if it would just be cheaper to add you and the baby in a family plan vs. just adding a dependent.

amarissa85 · May 2013

Geez that sounds like a lot. When I had my son I think it was something around 300 a month for the both of us, but that was several years ago and I had cigna then.

veggievet · May 2013

Same thing for us over 1000 a month. We are looking into other options. We are both healthy and it just seems way to high to be paying not to mention but a big dent in our finances.

magdalina.h · May 2013

It depends on the coverage he selected.

girlmama83 · May 2013

Thanks for all the input ladies. I had no idea if this was the norm or not and nearly fell off my chair when DB called and told me.

We will definitely be looking into other options!!

Ktbug613 · May 2013

I have nothing productive to offer here just wanted to say WOWZERS! Im so sorry your plan might be so expensive. Posts like these make me so thankful for our health care plan

Sascha3 · May 2013

Whoa!!!! My husband chose an HMO but it is only about $50 a month for our whole family. It is going to be another $10-20 when the twins arrive. That is insane.

When my husband switched jobs, and I quit my job at the same time, we were offered Cobra which was about $1000 a month. I just called a place that offers independent insurance and signed up for one of their plans for a few months then I cancelled. It was only about $200 a month for our family. It may have had a higer deductible, but it was still less than the $12,000 a year you would pay. You would be better off setting that money aside for an emergency and assuming that you will never need it anyways, unless you have a serious health issue. Of course, accidents always happen, but the liklihood is so low that it is better to go with a more affordable plan. The one I went with covered all of my doctors, so it was an easy choice for us.

MitsB707 · May 2013

That's crazy! Dh and I have separate plans through our jobs, but if I add lo to mine, it's 101 more per paycheck. It's still a lot more than the 26 a paycheck for just me, but I have a really good plan. We'll probably do that since my plan is a ppo and doesn't need referrals while his is an hmo. I would just call to double check. Couldn't hurt.

cbm3228 · May 2013

lindsey61811:
Cosmic+Love:
BreanneL24:
Actually that doesn't sound too outrageous if he is going from single to family coverage, especially depending on the plan. Oh the good old days of single coverage. Don't get me wrong, 1000 dollars is a ton of money, but insurance sucks. If I were you, I'd see what other plans his company offers. You may be able to even get private insurance for cheaper than he would pay for that plan.
Sorry to agree with this. Some insurance companies have three tier plans where there is a single rate, a spousal rate (insured plus spouse only), and a family rate (which would cover all dependents). It does seem like a huge jump, but it is normally the same rate for one, two, and three kids plus a spouse. Does that make sense?
I understand what you're saying, does it make a difference though that I am not involved in this plan at all? It would just be DB and the baby? 1000 a month for a single employee and one dependent?

I don't "think" there is such a thing as a single and a dependant- it would be a family rate. DH and I remained on seperate insurance (saved us a few bucks a month) until DS was born and then we went to the family rate (which was quite a bit higher). I also don't think he can just add you to his insurance if you aren't married.

BlueJewelM · May 2013

That's insane.

We pay 180 a month for family benefits PPO with a 250 deductible and a max OOP of 800.

DH is a cop, so we have to deal with government pay and other bureaucratic BS, but AT LEAST the insurance plan is amazing.

At that cost I may consider finding a plan privately. I've had friends with their own businesses get their own coverage and pay way less than that.

tami0623 · May 2013

I have welmark, blue cross/blue shield also and I just called this week. they told me baby would be an additional 108/month. I would double check for sure tho!

girlmama83 · May 2013

BlueJewelM:
That's insane. We pay 180 a month for family benefits PPO with a 250 deductible and a max OOP of 800. DH is a cop, so we have to deal with government pay and other bureaucratic BS, but AT LEAST the insurance plan is amazing. At that cost I may consider finding a plan privately. I've had friends with their own businesses get their own coverage and pay way less than that.

Thanks for the suggestion, we are going to looking into a private plan.

girlmama83 · May 2013

Sascha3:
Whoa!!!!nbsp; My husband chose an HMO but it is only about 50 a month for our whole family.nbsp; It is going to be another 1020 when the twins arrive.nbsp; That is insane.When my husband switched jobs, and I quit my job at the same time, we were offered Cobra which was about 1000 a month.nbsp; I just called a place that offers independentnbsp;insurance and signed up for one of their plans for a few months then I cancelled.nbsp; It was only about 200 a month for our family.nbsp; It may have had a higer deductible, but it was still less than the 12,000 a year you would pay.nbsp; You would be better off setting that money aside for an emergency and assuming that you will never need it anyways, unless you have a serious health issue.nbsp; Of course, accidents always happen, but the liklihood is so low that it is better to go with a more affordable plan.nbsp; The one I went with covered all of my doctors, so it was an easy choice for us.

Thank you it so very reassuring to hear there are more affordable options out there.

Creedon778 · May 2013

That seems high. There is such a thing as individual plus child...at least I know my company offers it for all five of our insurance company options. I have the most expensive plan my company offers aetna but there's no deductible and it covers most things 100 percent after copay. For the entire first pregnancy and delivery I only paid 80 out of pocket.

Rates are:
Individual 145/month
Individual plus children 257/month
Individual plus spouse 301/month
Family 457/month

girlmama83 · May 2013

Creedon778:
That seems high. There is such a thing as individual plus child...at least I know my company offers it for all five of our insurance company options. I have the most expensive plan my company offers aetna but there's no deductible and it covers most things 100 percent after copay. For the entire first pregnancy and delivery I only paid 80 out of pocket.

Rates are:
Individual 145/month
Individual plus children 257/month
Individual plus spouse 301/month
Family 457/month

That's all we need is individual plus child. Well actually not really even, DB and I both have separate insurance we just need to get baby health insurance. So it's not like we are looking for a family plan or insurance for DB, we only planned this way because I can't add anyone to mine but DB can to his.

Those rates sound amazing... The company is called Aetna? I will look into it. Thank you.

Creedon778 · May 2013

lindsey61811:

Those rates sound amazing... The company is called Aetna? I will look into it. Thank you.

Yes, Aetna. However keep in mind those are my company's rates. I'm sure my company pays a hefty portion of my insurance and thus what I am responsible for is reduced.

Sascha3 · May 2013

lindsey61811:
Sascha3:
Whoa!!!!nbsp; My husband chose an HMO but it is only about 50 a month for our whole family.nbsp; It is going to be another 1020 when the twins arrive.nbsp; That is insane.When my husband switched jobs, and I quit my job at the same time, we were offered Cobra which was about 1000 a month.nbsp; I just called a place that offers independentnbsp;insurance and signed up for one of their plans for a few months then I cancelled.nbsp; It was only about 200 a month for our family.nbsp; It may have had a higer deductible, but it was still less than the 12,000 a year you would pay.nbsp; You would be better off setting that money aside for an emergency and assuming that you will never need it anyways, unless you have a serious health issue.nbsp; Of course, accidents always happen, but the liklihood is so low that it is better to go with a more affordable plan.nbsp; The one I went with covered all of my doctors, so it was an easy choice for us.

Thank you it so very reassuring to hear there are more affordable options out there.

Definitely look into it. They are reps for various insurance companies, from BCBS to more affordable state plans. The inexpensive one I got was Coventry.

sleeping5beauty · May 2013

With both my current insurance and previous insurance it would be about $500 to add my kid/kids to my plan. It doesn't matter if its 1 kids or 12 the price is the same.

JilllyBean · May 2013

I'd ask his company. Not bcbs. There might be a different plan he can select that is better.

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