Health Insurance

[L_n_O 3]

Hey,

So I probably will have to pay $$$ for insurance under Oliver's work so I'm looking to see how much insurance would be from an insurance provider like Blue Cross..

Do you guys use any of the companies out there?

Any suggestions?

(I'll miss you OHIP)

[misa 2]

Eh can't help you out there. I'm currently paying $220 a month for insurance with Anthem/Blue Cross on my husband's work plan.

Yeah, I miss OHIP too. Which reminds me that I have to contact them to cancel mine!

[djc 0]

Go with whatever your future hubby's employer offers. Almost guaranteed to be better coverage with less money.

Blue Cross..... I think they quoted me over $350/month as an individual (non-smoking, healthy, 20-something yo female) a few years ago. The price goes up every year, it's probably over $400 by now!!

Yeaaaaaaaa....... suuuuuuure...........

[L_n_O 3]

Oliver *says* he asked his HR person today and it'd work out to like $500 a month for me

And I was like, "are you sure you asked?"

(he HATES paperwork and tries to get out of a lot of it.. or if he does look into it, gets it all muddled in his head)

SIGH

[Doug n Amanda 0]

Yes, your hubby's company will dictate your choices, but know what you're looking for and learn about HMO's and PPO's and the differences in coverage. For example, I have 3 choices available from my (US) employer...Blue Care Network PPO (Participating Panel Organization), HAP HMO (Health Management Organization), and Blue Cross. BCN was the best choice because the office copays were lower ($15/visit), there were NO deductibles (with deductibles you have to pay like the first $500/year out of pocket b4 your benefits kick in....no thx), and the prescription copay was $20.

[djc 0]

$500/month!!!!!!!

Okay, that sounds extra high... assuming you are all healthy and all that good stuff.

Usually through an employer, the employer kicks in some dough and you pay the rest of it.

I don't suppose Oliver meant $500 for the two of you? That would make more sense.....

Oliver *says* he asked his HR person today and it'd work out to like $500 a month for me

And I was like, "are you sure you asked?"

(he HATES paperwork and tries to get out of a lot of it.. or if he does look into it, gets it all muddled in his head)

SIGH

[L_n_O 3]

ok, so his HR person said that once we're married it's like $330 EACH..

is that right???

(she couldn't go into detail right now b/c she had company)

it covers medical, dental, hospital..

[djc 0]

Probably about right. It also depends on the employer, how much they kick in for ya.

If you guys are planning on babies and such, you would be better off just forking over the money.

If you guys are planning on waiting for a bit and have a padded bank account, you can look into individual plans.

I have a crappy individual plan through a union and I pay a little over $100/month. It covers the yearly girlie exam, and a $20/25 copay for office visits. But, I have a huge deductible (like $5000/year) and they pay 80% of everything afterwards. So? If I get seriously hurt, I'll have some serious bills. But it's better than nothing. Meanwhile, I'm padding the bank account with the extra money. I'm pretty healthy for now........

Please bear in mind that a sprained ankle cost a total of $3000 or so............. so please, if you don't have a nest egg going already, it may not be the way for you.

[misa 2]

$330 each is about right. When it's through employment it really depends on how much the company chooses to kick in for each employee and their family.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Meg badly sprained her ankle last spring!! Went to emergency, sat there for like 3 hours, took xrays, say a Dr for a ttl of 3 minutes, and the final bill was over $1500. Luckily we have insurance, so only had to pay our $20 deductible. We have blue cross/blue shield, no clue what we pay monthly.

[Delicia 1]

$500 per month for just 2 seems high still. I pay $260/month for 3 of us. Thats Aetna HMO type plan with 100% coverage within network and 80% out of network. Scripts are a whole different plan. But definitely go with the employer offered plan, they usually chip in anywhere from 30-80% of the premium costs, but that varies by employer and plan you pick.

Edited October 26, 2007 by Delicia

[cdancer 0]

expect to pay the eqivalent of a "car payment" per month and definately shop around.

look a what deductable you would have to pay upfront for hospitalization and what % the insurance company

will pay upfront and what additional % you have to pay that the insurance company will not!

its all very interesting...be sure to read the small print...its nutz!!!

quote name='liz_legend 'n Ol' date='Oct 25 2007, 04:42 PM' post='1282740']

Hey,

So I probably will have to pay $$$ for insurance under Oliver's work so I'm looking to see how much insurance would be from an insurance provider like Blue Cross..

Do you guys use any of the companies out there?

Any suggestions?

(I'll miss you OHIP)

[lynamon 0]

I'm having a heck of a time figuring everything out down here .. we are eligible to change the plan at my husbands work ... right now for a family it's costing us about $140 from his pay biweekly for PPO Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Thank God he has medical insurance through work .. 2006 was a $180,000 year for brain surgery and all of the testing, MRI's and such that go along with it ... and this year for radiation, I'm sure his insurance plan has had to fork out at least a few 10's of thousands.

He wants to change his plan because the worst is behind him but I have to do the research to make sure that we don't put him into a bad situation with the in network and out of network crappola.

He's guaranteed to need an MRI every year and if I'm not mistaken I believe that it costs about $3000.

In Canada we had absolutely no clue what the costs were for medical expenses so this is a whole new jaw dropping experience for me.

[Misty1979 0]

Funny you should bring this topic up...I was just browsing health insurance a couple hours ago, and was going to ask the same question.

I did a little survey and was quoted about $117 for a decent plan. Not sure why they would quote any of you $300+, unless you were insuring a whole family. Then again, the price may have changed after I actually spoke to an agent and confirmed the price, but I wouldn't think it would cost that much....

[djc 0]

Be careful about changing plans!! I don't know about employer-based stuff, but as an individual, the new health care company can (and will) deny payment for any services related to "previous conditions."

I'm having a heck of a time figuring everything out down here .. we are eligible to change the plan at my husbands work ... right now for a family it's costing us about $140 from his pay biweekly for PPO Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Thank God he has medical insurance through work .. 2006 was a $180,000 year for brain surgery and all of the testing, MRI's and such that go along with it ... and this year for radiation, I'm sure his insurance plan has had to fork out at least a few 10's of thousands.

He wants to change his plan because the worst is behind him but I have to do the research to make sure that we don't put him into a bad situation with the in network and out of network crappola.

He's guaranteed to need an MRI every year and if I'm not mistaken I believe that it costs about $3000.

In Canada we had absolutely no clue what the costs were for medical expenses so this is a whole new jaw dropping experience for me.