Cost for your monthly family medical plan premium?

[jillc]

EDITED to note that as much as I appreciated the responses, this thread is over two years old. Still payin' this, but coverage has been great. We're all set. Please drive through. :)

Hi All,

I know there are many factors to consider when evaluating health insurance plans, but am wondering about what other people are paying per month for employer-sponsored family health benefits.

We just became covered under a PPO plan with DH's new employer & the monthly premium is nearly $550 for the family option. Yikes! That seems pretty high, doesn't it?

< sigh > I think I might have to add "find new medical insurance" to my list of things to do before Baby Boy arrives in two weeks. Ugh.

Anyhoo... please help me out & let me know about what other families are paying so I can determine how ridiculous this $550 is.

Thanks,
Jill

[stella]

actually, and sadly, I don't think that's high.
I work for the county I live in - in Texas. I pay $550/month for dh and 2 dc. The county pays for mine. Which means the coverage for a family of 4 w/a $500 deductible/20% patient responsibility of any major procedure and $15 copay is about $850-$900/month.

It is a PPO plan.

[newmomto3kids]

I think we pay about $190 per paycheck. But that is for a PPO with $1000 per person deductible and after that they cover 60 -80%.
Ick!

[buddyleebaby]

We don't pay any premiums for ours.
We do hav co-pays for Doctor's visits at 15 bucks a pop, unless they are ob visits in which case again we pay nothing.
and we have a 300 co-pay for hospital admissions.

[wencit]

DH and I work for tech companies in the Silicon Valley. We're both on his employer's medical plan because there's no cost to us. At my company, the cost is $190/month for the entire family.

[bunnisa]

We've paid $1500 (self-insured), $750 (family plan through a company) and now are grateful to pay around $250.

...blessed wife and mama to two!

"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
-Justin Torres

[caffeinedreams]

We pay $350/month for family coverage PPO, dental, and vision. We have a $250 deductible per person, $20 copay for office visits, 90% paid after deductible up to an out-of-pocket maximum of $1000 per person or $2500 for the family, then it pays 100%. This is BCBS/Delta Dental. There is no deductible on prescriptions with a $10 generic, $25 brand name copay.

[scoop22]

we don't pay anything from our pay check. when i first started i had to pay $20 a pay.. i didn't have a family then. i had a chance to switch providers. i did and i haven't paid since. i have to pay $10 for office visits. i paid $10 for my pregnancy. my sister on the other hand is in the same profession in a different state and has to pay close to $600 or more.

eta.. this is only medical. i only get FREE DENTAL. and i have never used my vision.

http://b2.lilypie.com/XbITm4.png

[annasmom]

I obviously need to look into this because I could have sworn that we pay $1500 a month for our health insurance. Based on what I am reading that seems ridiculously high.

[MelissaTC]

I am pretty sure we pay around $350 for medical, dental and vision. We have co-insurance so we pay 20% of the negotiated rate and preventative care is covered 100%. It is a PPO plan. DH works for a very large corporation so the insurance pool is large.

[SheriRae]

Gulp......

you are incredibly lucky!!!

We are covered under a PPO plan through dh's employer (small business) under the family option and the cost for our family this coming year is $1224 MONTHLY!

$550 is not ridiculous.....$1224 is ridiculous.

[holliam]

I work for a huge corporation. DH, DD, and I are covered on mine. Company pays most; we pay about $80 or so additional per month. This includes medical, dental, vision. Co-pays are $10. We feel very lucky but my insurance used to be even better and cheaper.

About 10 years ago I worked at Apple and on the prescription plan, generic drugs were free and absolutely any non generic prescription was $5. I'm not there anymore and my current company's benefits were always slightly behind.

Holli

[JBaxter]

DH pays a little less than 40 a week for premium coverage thats a 90-10 w/ a 250 deductable per person 500 per family w/ a 1000 out of pocket cap. That includes stantdard RX & eye.

[jillc]

Whoa ~ $1224!! You're right, that is REALLY ridiculous!

[LD92599]

About $1200 per month with a $30 co pay and $300/day hospital; scripts are usually 50% off.

This is a combination of Oxford Single HMO for myself; Horizon HMO for DH and DS (parent and children). It's cheaper by several hunder bucks/month to do it this way vs one family plan.

Laura
Will is three and a half - we're now making progress with sleeping!

[jenmcadams]

My husband runs a small business and we're just getting ready to start running the health care through his business instead of the COBRA coverage we've been paying for. Since he doesn't currently have outside investors, it still is about the same ($1200 for a decent PPO including dental) for our whole family. I didn't vote b/c I don't think our situation is what you're looking for. When we were still employed, I think we paid around $300 a month for our contribution for the same type of plan.

[hez]

We're just barely over $100, and we're on the more expensive plan (vs. the higher deductible version). A few years ago it was more like $84/month I'm feeling spoiled now.

ETA It's a PPO, large company.

[tarynsmum]

We pay $350 a month, plus we have a deductable of $500, but after the deductable no copays. That's only for medical, not dental or eye.

[o_mom]

It all depends....

We pay about $280/month for a $100/300 deductible, 90/10 PPO with $20 copays for all visits. The total cost with the employer contribution is around $1100/month. We have an option of a $400/$1200 deductible, 80/20 PPO with $25 copays for regular visits and $40 for specialists that would be $144/month with a total cost of $990. This is just Medical, prescription and vision (the vision coverage is lame), not dental.

The total costs are probably closer to what you would find looking for a plan independent of your employer for comparable coverage. It is possible to find cheaper coverage, but it will usually have a higher deductible and may not cover maternity or prescriptions. If your coverage is pretty bad already, you may do better on an independent plan and use the public health service for things like immunizations.

This coming year we will at least break even on the more expensive plan because of the baby. Any unexpected major problems (which we always seem to have at least one of - ER visit, surgery, etc.) would make the more expensive plan a better deal. After we are done having kids, the less expensive one will probably be a better deal. There is also a heath care savings account option, but with kids it is not going to be a good deal.

[c914]

I live in the midwest, where it is reported our local area has one of the highest health care costs in the entire country. must be for all the WAY too much advertising from all the competition IMO.

The caveat is that the plan I signed up for carries a $3000 deductible (plus the monthly premium charge ~$1500/yr) - but once we spend that money - and we will when baby comes in April - everything is covered 100%.


I carry the benefits for our family, as I work for a larger company than DH, plus DH gets a stipend for NOT taking his companies plan.

Carla

[tarahsolazy]

My out of pocket expense is pretty tiny, I think $39 a month? However, the total premium is $650 or so. My benefits money covers it, so it doesn't seem like "I'm" paying for it. I suppose I am, though. That's the cheapest option for us that makes any sense.

[tandb]

I pay $700/month for medical, dental and vision through employer sponsored plan. This includes a $2,000 deductible and a $20.00 copay on all visits. ER visits are $400 copay. After the deductible, it pays 90% but as we found out this year--most of our "Routine" visits were not covered because they were not "medically necessary" so the claims were denied. So basically we pay $700/month for health benefits that do not cover ANYTHING. Is is HORRIBLE insurance and I work in the healthcare field. It would be cheaper for my husband and I to quit our jobs and use Medicaid and welfare. Now I see why people don't want to work.

[emily_gracesmama]

$500 out of pocket for me and the girls, BC Personal Choice PPO, $20/$40 copay, most generic scripts are actually $0. The $500 is with my boss covering 70% of my cost, which is about $400/mth that he pays. Husband's is on his own small group plan and he pays $423/mth. Health insurance costs are CRAZY, but I'd rather pay to have really good coverage and cut corners, if need be elsewhere.

[jenmcadams]

I obviously need to look into this because I could have sworn that we pay $1500 a month for our health insurance. Based on what I am reading that seems ridiculously high.

The total cost for our family is about $1300. My DH has his own company and pays for all his employees health care so there is no personal contribution. My guess is some of these that seem high is what you're talking about is your contribution...your employer is probably paying something too.

Edited: JUST REALIZED THIS IS A SUPER OLD THREAD AND I RESPONDED LAST YEAR :(

[o_mom]

Deleted - old thread.

[lizajane]

$600 or $700. that's just for the kids and me. we are very lucky that DH's work has begun to cover it as a part of his last raise. that cost was without adding DH's $75/month.

we have $25-$50 co-pays and my kids' births were billed at 30%. year before last year, we spent $1500 on dylan's hand surgery and $3500 on DH's cycling accident.