I'm trying not to make this political at all here. Work places' insurance has changed due to various political and non political reasons.
Formerly we have Blue Cross HMO, UnitedHealth PPO, UnitedHealth EPO. Based on what I know they are very typical plan that HMO and EPO have 100% coverage above a certain amount, HMO has to visit the PCP first while PPO and EPO don't, and PPO can visit out of network with higher out of pocket expense, etc.
This year the HMO is removed as Blue Cross increased its premium up to 40%. Employer replace it with a "Saver" PPO plan that gives you a $500 Health Savings Account, and has been promoting it aggressively.
The price of this plan is about $750 cheaper than the other 2 (PPO and EPO), and the deductible is $1250 before the plan will kick in and pay 90% of cost. The maximum out of pocket is $4000 ($3500 after subtracting the company's $500 contribution) for the saver PPO vs the $2000 for PPO and $1500 for EPO. All preventive care (screening, etc) are 100% covered. Infertility is the 90% covered.
I've asked a couple coworkers and they have different opinion about this new plan.
One say it is a good money saver because they rarely see doctors and the amount of best case saving is the $750 you save vs other plan, and the maximum worst case expense is $3500. The money you don't use is rolled over to next year unless you leave the company, then you have to pay a bunch of $1 or $2 maintenance or withdraw fee if your balance is below $500. If you withdraw with cash then the amount of $ is taxable.
My other coworker who had a $110k neck surgery said any sort of medical procedure will cost you 30-200k easily these days, and 3.5k out of pocket isn't a good saving if problem arise.
Any opinion? I do visit chiropractor pretty often but next year they increased the copay to $30 from $20, and I'd probably not visit as often unless my neck and shoulder are falling apart regardless of any plan I join.
Formerly we have Blue Cross HMO, UnitedHealth PPO, UnitedHealth EPO. Based on what I know they are very typical plan that HMO and EPO have 100% coverage above a certain amount, HMO has to visit the PCP first while PPO and EPO don't, and PPO can visit out of network with higher out of pocket expense, etc.
This year the HMO is removed as Blue Cross increased its premium up to 40%. Employer replace it with a "Saver" PPO plan that gives you a $500 Health Savings Account, and has been promoting it aggressively.
The price of this plan is about $750 cheaper than the other 2 (PPO and EPO), and the deductible is $1250 before the plan will kick in and pay 90% of cost. The maximum out of pocket is $4000 ($3500 after subtracting the company's $500 contribution) for the saver PPO vs the $2000 for PPO and $1500 for EPO. All preventive care (screening, etc) are 100% covered. Infertility is the 90% covered.
I've asked a couple coworkers and they have different opinion about this new plan.
One say it is a good money saver because they rarely see doctors and the amount of best case saving is the $750 you save vs other plan, and the maximum worst case expense is $3500. The money you don't use is rolled over to next year unless you leave the company, then you have to pay a bunch of $1 or $2 maintenance or withdraw fee if your balance is below $500. If you withdraw with cash then the amount of $ is taxable.
My other coworker who had a $110k neck surgery said any sort of medical procedure will cost you 30-200k easily these days, and 3.5k out of pocket isn't a good saving if problem arise.
Any opinion? I do visit chiropractor pretty often but next year they increased the copay to $30 from $20, and I'd probably not visit as often unless my neck and shoulder are falling apart regardless of any plan I join.
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