Share your self-provided health insurance experience

[Tommy-G]

Anyone gone away from their employers offerings and had a good experience?
Our company of approx 800 people is having the most popular plan dropped and the next option is $60 more per week (w/Aetna).
Not the end of the world, but wondering if there's a better option b/c my coverage isn't all that stellar

[RickFLM4]

I used to purchase a small employer plan (Group of 1) from Florida Blue that skyrocketed and then was no longer available shortly after ACA became law. So we switched to private (non-subsidized) insurance for a few years. Not much different benefits than corporate sponsored but substantially more expensive and the only good PPO option in our area (there are some shittier HMO plans available though). Best thing to do is go to Florida Blue website and see what they have, but under the ACA, I believe you can only purchase from November - December unless you need coverage for one of several defined reasons (lost job, got married, etc.). I expect you may be better off with employer coverage in terms of cost, but may find better coverage at a higher price.

[paquet]

What do you folks usually pay in FL?
This is something I've been considering as an alternative to purchasing travel insurance

[vreihen16]

When I was involved with a health insurance change at work a few years ago, we discovered that removing the options of multiple insurers and plans and only offering a single plan brought the price of that one plan down at least 5%. Millennials were grumbling for a few months about being forced into "adult" plans and not their choice of a cheaper plan with a crazy deductibles, but there hasn't been a gofundme page so far because someone was in an accident and needed to scrape up $10K to pay their medical deductible. If you have any input in the insurance selection process, it may be worth suggesting that your employer investigate this option...especially if the enrollment in the most popular plan is over 75%.

No experience here with the private market to offer.....

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by packet

What do you folks usually pay in FL?
This is something I've been considering as an alternative to purchasing travel insurance

The last time I checked, a high deductible PPO plan with a good network and pharmacy benefits exceeded $2,000 / mo. for just my wife and I, both of whom are non-smokers over 50 years old. There are a lot of variables that impact pricing. You can probably find some HMOs with limited network and benefits in the hundreds and non-high deductible / no out-of-pocket cost plans over $3,000 / mo.

Not sure I understand the interaction with travel insurance. One seems to have nothing to do with the other.

[MPOWER5266]

My work insurance was going to be way too high if I added my wife and kids so we went with Medishare. The coverage is so so, and we pay out of pocket for most things but its still way cheaper in the long run. We basically have it for catastrophic coverage and just save money for day to day stuff.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by packet

What do you folks usually pay in FL?
This is something I've been considering as an alternative to purchasing travel insurance

$117 per week will be my new rate. 46 yrs old, Non smoker. I have dental, no eye care, short & long term disability and life insurance for myself and my wife with their max of $145k
Currently paying $57/week for the same coverage

[dreamingat30fps]

You can just go to the healthcare.gov site and see for yourself. You don't need to have it subsidized or anything to go on there and see plans. You can even then go buy the plans directly from the company (at least for Florida Blue) if you prefer, but it's an easy way to see a lot of plans and pricing in one spot.

I have a Florida Blue plan that's alright. It's PPO with low deductible but the network of doctors is not the best. The site will basically let you search for plans that have your doctor in network. So I usually just pick the least expensive, low deductible PPO plan that has my main doctors in network. I believe I pay $500 something per month.

[DocL]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

My work insurance was going to be way to high if I added my wife and kids so we went with Medishare. The coverage is so so, and we pay out of pocket for most things but its still way cheaper in the long run. We basically have it for catastrophic coverage and just save money for day to day stuff.

I enrolled my wife and I in a healthshare program three years ago. It's worked out well since we are both relatively healthy. My out of pocket each year is so much less than paying $2k a month and not having to use medical insurance benefits. I get my prescriptions cheaper at Walmart using GoodRx than I would using a medical insurance co-payment plan. The healthshare also includes a yearly wellness exam, colonoscopy, bloodwork, and a bunch of other things.

Fortunately I'm in the medical field and have friends who treat my wife and I at no charge. So that helps too.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by TommyG-inFlaNow

$117 per week will be my new rate. 46 yrs old, Non smoker. I have dental, no eye care, short & long term disability and life insurance for myself and my wife with their max of $145k
Currently paying $57/week for the same coverage

Is that $117 for you and your wife both or just you?

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by TommyG-inFlaNow

$117 per week will be my new rate.

My current payment is $114/week for me and my DW on my work plan, where I pay 25% and they pay the remaining 75% ($341/week) of the weekly costs. Assuming that you are on a similar 25/75 split, that price is not unreasonable for employer-offered coverage these days.

As an aside, my employer's dental add-on policy for me and DW is costing me $6.15/week on a 50/50 split.....

[paquet]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

The last time I checked, a high deductible PPO plan with a good network and pharmacy benefits exceeded $2,000 / mo. for just my wife and I, both of whom are non-smokers over 50 years old. There are a lot of variables that impact pricing. You can probably find some HMOs with limited network and benefits in the hundreds and non-high deductible / no out-of-pocket cost plans over $3,000 / mo.

Not sure I understand the interaction with travel insurance. One seems to have nothing to do with the other.

sorry - i didn't explain fully. i've just been looking at options for insurance.
(i spend half the year in FL)

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Is that $117 for you and your wife both or just you?

Just me, it was more cost effective for her to go on with her employer

Originally Posted by vreihen16

My current payment is $114/week for me and my DW on my work plan, where I pay 25% and they pay the remaining 75% ($341/week) of the weekly costs. Assuming that you are on a similar 25/75 split, that price is not unreasonable for employer-offered coverage these days.

As an aside, my employer's dental add-on policy for me and DW is costing me $6.15/week on a 50/50 split.....

Agreed, its not bad...just sucks to almost double my out of pocket. On the plus side, its really only a $3k hit for the year.