Let's play a game - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

kutulu · 06-28-2005, 02:34 PM

Here is the game: How much do you pay for health care costs and how does it compare to your other monthly expenses?

I’m sitting here thinking about how I have about $50 to last me until Friday when I get paid and how $30 of it needs to go to get gas. As usual, I start thinking about where my money went.

I’m paying $329.87 every two weeks for health care. That is $7,916.88 per year if you are counting at home, kids. I’m married and we have an 8 month old baby girl. All three of us are on the plan and my employer pays 75% of my premiums and 50% of those for my wife and daughter. I’m cheap, the total for me and my employer is about $87/mo, therefore the insurance company is getting a grand total of $1,406.48/month out of me and my employer ($16,877.26/year).

By way of comparison, our two cars cost us $604/mo and the rent is $795/mo. Health care is the second largest monthly expense for us. It makes up about 18% of my pre-tax earnings (but at least I don’t pay taxes on my insurance premiums, right?). The insurance company is actually getting more money than all my fed and state taxes, SS, and medicare COMBINED! Oh, by the way, this doesn’t include dental or vision coverage, just crappy medical insurance with a $25 ded and a max of something like $3,500 out of pocket expenses.

I know there are other health care threads out there but I wanted to put this out there since they usually only hint at the high costs of health care. This thread can give us all an idea of what people are paying and how much of a burden it is on people. You don’t need to give examples that are as personal as I gave, just some round numbers.

Gilda · 06-28-2005, 03:13 PM

I have a family plan through work that covers me, spouse or domestic partner, and children. It's a flat rate regardless of whether you're single, married, or have, as one of the teachers does, 10 kids. The school district pays the entire cost, about $700 a month for health with a $150 deductible, dental and vision for the employee only.

Grace also has full coverage through work, also of herself and a spouse/domestic partner, which her employer pays roughly $900 a month with a $250 deductible. Dental and vision are available for spouses/domestic partners for a buy in.

This means that either of us has insurance that would cover us both. Since my insurance provides better coverage than hers, and we don't wish to pay two deductibles, we file all claims on my insurance. This means that the $900 her employer pays is pure profit for that insurance company, as we won't be making any claims.

So, a total of $1600 a month paid for health insurance, by the employer. Car payments, on two cars, total about $1000. The mortgage is tricky, but without going into detail, sets us back about $1200 a month.

In addition, my sister (a full time college student) isn't covered on either of our insurance, and every insurance plan we've checked specifically excludes her treatments, so it's all cash for her, between $100 and $200 a month, not counting extraordinary expenses like her recent surgery.

So, if you add up what my employer pays, what her employer pays, and what we pay out of pocket for my sister's expenses, it's a tad bit less than housing and cars put together, and a lot more than food, clothing, and entertainment. It's easily the biggest expense if figured that way.

If you only count up out of pocket, and leave out Sissy's surgery, it's actually negligible, less than one car payment.

kutulu · 06-28-2005, 03:28 PM

Damn, that's great stuff. It's interesting that the total costs are similar to what mine are, just that it's all taken care of.

I expected a public job to have good benefits but that is amazing. Does Grace have a job for a private company or is she also a state employee?

I'm trying to get a new job right now with another place. When I hear about people getting such great med benefits it gives me hope.

Gilda · 06-28-2005, 04:57 PM

There are some 300,000 public school teachers in California. With a pool that big, costs come way, way down per unit. Different districts buy in at different levels. My district opted for the family plan, with the highest coverage. We had to forego a raise in favor of full insurance coverage, and costs are also controlled by having a single plan for all employees. With a single cost, single people and those with large families pay the same, so singles are overpaying, while families are underpaying. Even when I was single, this didn't bother me in the least. It also gets married couples, for whom the district pays twice for the same coverage.

My wife works as a nurse/paramedic for an ambulance company, which, as you would expect, also tends to offer excellent benefits. There are different coverages depending upon your grade; an EMT tech trainee gets nothing paid by the employer, but can buy in out of pocket, while those at the highest grade, like Grace, get full coverage paid by the employer. Even given that, her insurance costs more, has a higher deductible, and offers less coverage than mine, which is why we use my insurance.

06-28-2005, 02:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	Let's play a game Here is the game: How much do you pay for health care costs and how does it compare to your other monthly expenses? I’m sitting here thinking about how I have about $50 to last me until Friday when I get paid and how $30 of it needs to go to get gas. As usual, I start thinking about where my money went. I’m paying $329.87 every two weeks for health care. That is $7,916.88 per year if you are counting at home, kids. I’m married and we have an 8 month old baby girl. All three of us are on the plan and my employer pays 75% of my premiums and 50% of those for my wife and daughter. I’m cheap, the total for me and my employer is about $87/mo, therefore the insurance company is getting a grand total of $1,406.48/month out of me and my employer ($16,877.26/year). By way of comparison, our two cars cost us $604/mo and the rent is $795/mo. Health care is the second largest monthly expense for us. It makes up about 18% of my pre-tax earnings (but at least I don’t pay taxes on my insurance premiums, right?). The insurance company is actually getting more money than all my fed and state taxes, SS, and medicare COMBINED! Oh, by the way, this doesn’t include dental or vision coverage, just crappy medical insurance with a $25 ded and a max of something like $3,500 out of pocket expenses. I know there are other health care threads out there but I wanted to put this out there since they usually only hint at the high costs of health care. This thread can give us all an idea of what people are paying and how much of a burden it is on people. You don’t need to give examples that are as personal as I gave, just some round numbers.

06-28-2005, 03:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
Gilda 32 flavors and then some Location: Out on a wire.	I have a family plan through work that covers me, spouse or domestic partner, and children. It's a flat rate regardless of whether you're single, married, or have, as one of the teachers does, 10 kids. The school district pays the entire cost, about $700 a month for health with a $150 deductible, dental and vision for the employee only. Grace also has full coverage through work, also of herself and a spouse/domestic partner, which her employer pays roughly $900 a month with a $250 deductible. Dental and vision are available for spouses/domestic partners for a buy in. This means that either of us has insurance that would cover us both. Since my insurance provides better coverage than hers, and we don't wish to pay two deductibles, we file all claims on my insurance. This means that the $900 her employer pays is pure profit for that insurance company, as we won't be making any claims. So, a total of $1600 a month paid for health insurance, by the employer. Car payments, on two cars, total about $1000. The mortgage is tricky, but without going into detail, sets us back about $1200 a month. In addition, my sister (a full time college student) isn't covered on either of our insurance, and every insurance plan we've checked specifically excludes her treatments, so it's all cash for her, between $100 and $200 a month, not counting extraordinary expenses like her recent surgery. So, if you add up what my employer pays, what her employer pays, and what we pay out of pocket for my sister's expenses, it's a tad bit less than housing and cars put together, and a lot more than food, clothing, and entertainment. It's easily the biggest expense if figured that way. If you only count up out of pocket, and leave out Sissy's surgery, it's actually negligible, less than one car payment. __________________ I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert

06-28-2005, 04:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
Gilda 32 flavors and then some Location: Out on a wire.	There are some 300,000 public school teachers in California. With a pool that big, costs come way, way down per unit. Different districts buy in at different levels. My district opted for the family plan, with the highest coverage. We had to forego a raise in favor of full insurance coverage, and costs are also controlled by having a single plan for all employees. With a single cost, single people and those with large families pay the same, so singles are overpaying, while families are underpaying. Even when I was single, this didn't bother me in the least. It also gets married couples, for whom the district pays twice for the same coverage. My wife works as a nurse/paramedic for an ambulance company, which, as you would expect, also tends to offer excellent benefits. There are different coverages depending upon your grade; an EMT tech trainee gets nothing paid by the employer, but can buy in out of pocket, while those at the highest grade, like Grace, get full coverage paid by the employer. Even given that, her insurance costs more, has a higher deductible, and offers less coverage than mine, which is why we use my insurance. __________________ I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert

06-28-2005, 03:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	Damn, that's great stuff. It's interesting that the total costs are similar to what mine are, just that it's all taken care of. I expected a public job to have good benefits but that is amazing. Does Grace have a job for a private company or is she also a state employee? I'm trying to get a new job right now with another place. When I hear about people getting such great med benefits it gives me hope.