Who buys there own Health Insurance?

Cherokeekid88

Cherokeekid88

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Location
High Point, NC
So an opportunity has potentially presented itself in the form of a new job. people are great, hours are great, pay would be a good amount more. My main issue is that they do not offer health insurance. They do offer 401k and profit sharing, but no damn health insurance.

So I had my wife look into adding myself and my daughter to her policy at her work and just for us to have health insurance would be according to her, $922 a month then another $22.40 for Vision. Her work does not offer Dental, so I would need to buy that separately. her current policy covers her alone and does not cost her anything.

Anyone buy there own insurance including vision and dental for yourself and child?

What ballpark am I looking at?

This could be a really good opportunity for me but at these prices, I'd be eating up all the extra money I'd be making.
 
I buy my own through BCBS of NC, since 2013. It's ranged from $300-$450/mo. It's not great coverage but it's a lot cheaper than spousal coverage rates. We did the math on dental and it wasn't worth it for us; premium was the same or slightly more than paying out of pocket and didn't really get us anything extra, even with orthodontia coming on in the near future. No vision coverage but no real need.

Kids are on Shawn's plan because it's cheaper, so check just adding her to your wife's plan.
 
All told, we pay well over $1k/mo for health insurance, after what the company kicks in. All-in, it's a bit under $2k/mo. $922/mo for you and the kids sounds like a good deal.
 
$900/month for a family plan is about the norm for medium and small companies. I pay about $800/month for the wife and kids. At my previous job with a big corporate conglomerate, it was about $350/month, but that was the cheapest plan (HSA). PPO was closer to the $800 range there.
 
Damn, Under my health plan I carry myself and my daughter for $166 a month, If my wife added our daughter to her plan, she would pay over $400 a month, then I would still have to buy my own health, dental, and vision....
 
Random thoughts
- Does your wife work in Raliegh? Potentially on Presslyn Drive? Those numbers are very familiar.
- I dont know y'alls income levels and this may be presumptuous if its off norm, but if $700 a month pre-tax eats up all the difference, Id question the justification of the move based on finances...if everythign else is better and you are moving for reasons other than money then the money doesnt matter.
- You dont need dental insurance. Its a racket unless its free from the company. Most plans Ive seen run around $50/month and have an annual maximum benefit of $1,000. That means at the absolute best you save $400...I mean our cleanings cost $52. Had a kid cavity filled recently for $71.
- Vision. Does anyone wear glasses? If not drop that ish.If someone's eyes go bad add it in the future, if it pays off.

And one actual piece of advice. I changed jobs in 2015. (Damn its been 4 years - seems like yesterday) I went from a company with 100,000 global employees to one with ~100 employees. The insurance cost increase was a shocker. When I saw it I called the HR manager and explained it was more than I anticipated and was going to need a weekend to reconsider. They offered me a $7,500/yr bump on the offer to offset the cost. If they are down the road and want you as a candidate that will be negligible. We average $20k hiring expense per placement....
 
Ron said:
Random thoughts
- Does your wife work in Raliegh? Potentially on Presslyn Drive? Those numbers are very familiar.
- I dont know y'alls income levels and this may be presumptuous if its off norm, but if $700 a month pre-tax eats up all the difference, Id question the justification of the move based on finances...if everythign else is better and you are moving for reasons other than money then the money doesnt matter.
- You dont need dental insurance. Its a racket unless its free from the company. Most plans Ive seen run around $50/month and have an annual maximum benefit of $1,000. That means at the absolute best you save $400...I mean our cleanings cost $52. Had a kid cavity filled recently for $71.
- Vision. Does anyone wear glasses? If not drop that ish.If someone's eyes go bad add it in the future, if it pays off.

And one actual piece of advice. I changed jobs in 2015. (Damn its been 4 years - seems like yesterday) I went from a company with 100,000 global employees to one with ~100 employees. The insurance cost increase was a shocker. When I saw it I called the HR manager and explained it was more than I anticipated and was going to need a weekend to reconsider. They offered me a $7,500/yr bump on the offer to offset the cost. If they are down the road and want you as a candidate that will be negligible. We average $20k hiring expense per placement....
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No, Wife works here in High Point.
I wasn't really looking to change jobs right now, but this sort of fell into my lap.

I think this would be a good move, but money is also a factor. I have a little girl now and I know with that comes uncertainty and new expenses and want to be able to provide for my family, so yes more money is something that I am after, but if that extra money turns into a bit extra each month because I am having to pay out the wazoo for insurance because the new place doesn't offer it, does it make it worth it? To me, not really.

I am meeting with the owner on Monday to talk more in depth about everything and one question I will ask is if they offer an additional allowance for insurance on top of my salary.

Vision insurance really helps me out because I have a astigmatism and my contacts are not cheap. my wife has been complaining about her eyes starting to get worse and will probably be adding vision for her soon.

If they offer me an additional $7500 a year on top of what I'd be making. I'd probably be ok with that. Although I think it would cost us around $8400 a year extra for insurance coverage.
 
Wife and I are both 41 with no pre-existing conditions. We have individual BCBS plans that are 70/30
I'm like $330 month and she is around $370 month. I pay dental out of pocket. Vision is partially covered but not by much.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
Vision insurance really helps me out because I have a astigmatism and my contacts are not cheap. my wife has been complaining about her eyes starting to get worse and will probably be adding vision for her soon.
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Do the math on the vision insurance. 95% of the time it still is not worth it.
I have astigmatism and very nearsighted... on top of nystagmus that is related to ocular albinism. If you think your contacts are expensive, I'll bet you they are nowhere close to the RGPs I have to wear or the cost of my glasses (but, I haven't han new glasses in 10 years b/c I never wear them). Guess what - I decline vision insurance every year.
Add up the total of the premiums. Then add up the out of pocket and copays. Then add up what % you'll pay for your contacts or glasses. Then compare all of that to what the costs of the services + contacts would be w/o the discount.
For me it is routinely 10% or higher more expensive to pay the premiums than out of pocket.
Keep in mind, they ALWAYS have a rate they charge if you have insurance, and a different "cash" rate.

I have a good friend who is an optometrist. He told me once, flat out, that they rarely see cases where it's a good deal for the patient.
 
1) When we decided the wife was going to stay at home, my company didn't offer insurance yet...but I did negotiate an $800/month insurance stipend above and beyond my salary and other benefits, see if they're open to that
2) When I was researching, to maintain the same quality of coverage as we had with prior plans I had and what she had...it was every bit of $1400/month for a family plan.
3) As noted, as far as dental/vision are concerned, for routine visits, not worth the cost. Bad plan that doesn't cover shit, not worth the cost. Decent plan that'll cover 50% of braces or a root canal or surprise work on your eye because they think that black spot might be cancer...worth it.

Insurance as a whole is just hedging against how healthy you think you'll be...at my plant, I offer 3 different medical plans and two different vison/dental plans just for that purpose. 20 year old me with no kids...who needs insurance...33 year old me with a wife and two kids, I'll be your easy target on adding a rider for defective cuticle growth.
 
Yeah I wouldn’t spend the $ on dental and possibly vision. I had lasik years ago and have done away with contacts, so I can’t really be positive in costs savings on vision. But, I’d bet it would be similar to dental. I ran numbers on both years ago and neither were worth it and dental isn’t worth it for our family today.

For health insurance, we opted for a high deductible plan. We are all fairly young and are in good health so we rarely go to the doctor and if we do, it’s for something minor. We just save the $ for deductible and out of pocket maximums and benefit with less expensive insurance. May want to look at higher deductible plans to reduce costs.

Or, just wait a couple years and Medicare for everyone will be implemented. :rolleyes:
 
We have Christian healthcare ministries plan. $450/month for me, my wife, and three kids on the 'gold' plan. You have to pay out of pocket for small stuff but I think we definitely come out cheaper. Added child #3 in January and this is the first time I have actually sent something in to CHM for reimbursement, still waiting to see how it turns out.

If you want to sign up let me know, I actually think I might would get a free month if you put in my name, don't know for sure never done it before.
 
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