Thursday, September 26, 2013

How much will you pay for medical next year?

I'm collecting examples to illustrate just how much Corporate is raising employee healthcare insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for 2014. In your replies, please provide as much of the following as possible.

This year
  • Your current insurance premium deduction per month
  • How many people does your plan cover?
  • Approximately how much have you spent so far this year on co-pays and other expenditures not covered by your plan?
  • Your total household income
For 2014
  • Your expected premium deduction per month
  • How many people will your plan cover?
  • About how much do you expect to spend on care not covered by the new 2014 plan? (Note the new deductibles outlined below.)
  • Your anticipated total household income

A reminder
Here are the new monthly premiums for 2014:
  • Employee only -- $90
  • Plus spouse -- $436
  • Plus child(ren) -- $392
  • Family -- $575
In another big change, co-pays disappear. But employees must now first meet large deductibles before insurance benefits kick in. For employee-only plans, it's $1,500. For family plans: $3,000. After that, the plan pays 80% and the employee, 20%.

Also, the employee-only maximum out-of-pocket cost per year will be $5,000. For families, it will be $10,000 per year.

Related: Here's the company's FAQ about the new plans. And here's a document showing examples of how the plan will work for individuals and families. They are stored on Google Docs, where you can download copies anonymously at no cost.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot.com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

11 comments:

  1. Less than you!

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  2. This year we are paying $320 for family coverage for 4...This has been a low-spend year, i.e. we've stayed healthy...The only one of us to really use the benefits this year is our 25yr old son and he takes care of his copay's and fee's himself, so I can't say for sure how much he's spent, but not much...He does get allergy shots at $20 a pop...I don't think the other 3 of us have seen a doctor this year...I have two monthly prescriptions filled at a compounding pharmacy which the plan doesn't cover so I'm out about $60 a month for those.

    Next year our plan will go to $575 and everyone is aware of the high deductible and no co-pays compared to what we have now...I'm looking into alternatives for the rest of the family...Also, this would only be for 3 of us as the older son will drop off early next year.

    Income both years, ( hey, for the last 5 or 6) is $37K...Total family income about $48K.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Federal option.

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    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    3. What? No reply, 3:19?

      Delete
  3. As a retiree I pay $1,239 a month for just medical, employee plus spouse. not sure if that was based on my final year;s salary. retiree web site told me to check with benefits about new premium.The Alex tutorial at Gannett benefits site does not address retirees and one of the first questions asked is about salary. I thought the new premiums were not going to be salary based?

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  4. Jim: Are you sure that Individual premium is actually a monthly figure? That would be less than the $70 I pay every two weeks for the current Choice Plus health plan.

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    Replies
    1. Don't get too excited, 5:21. You'll get screwed over by the deductible scheme.

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    2. 5:21 That's from Page 8 of the FAQ.

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  5. Is it for real that a single $392 premium applies whether you have one child or 10? It just says "child(ren)" If so, I face a huge percentage jump. And does it make sense to say one size fits all?

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  6. This is a catastrophic plan -- for employees. Gannett would not pay a dime until a single person racks up $2,850 in health care costs for the year. Anything less and Gannett actually makes money from the premium. It's even worse for a family plan. This would only make sense for those seeking protections from catastrophic illnesses. What a deal

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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