CS Career and Medical Coverage

[icor1031]

I'm a CS and web dev student. I plan to go into remote web dev work, probably doing front end.

However, I'm disabled. Right now I get medical insurance through SSI and SSDI. If I start working, I'll lose medicare and medicaid.

Because of my disabilities, I frequently need healthcare visits. I'm not particularly worried about the premium I'd have to pay for whatever medical coverage would replace them -- rather, I'm worried about the yearly deductible(?) limit. It seems that $12,000 is common, and that's downright brutal.

Is it likely that I could get a position that would offer a plan with a much lower deductible than that? What numbers am I likely to see?

 

[modi123]

It all depends on the company, honestly. There is no magical insight just a per company basis. Some companies are big enough to have multiple plans.. some only offer high deductible &HSA.

Perhaps slide that in on your interview call some fashion.

 

[icor1031]

It all depends on the company, honestly. There is no magical insight just a per company basis. Some companies are big enough to have multiple plans.. some only offer high deductible &HSA.

Perhaps slide that in on your interview call some fashion.

So there are some with low deductibles? Okay.

 

[BinarySynapse]

I pay $29 per check, and my deductible is $2,300.
My wife pays $102 per check for her and the kids; her deductible is only $1,200 (and even then most of their visits are covered with a copay).

If you’re looking at $12k deductibles with a company’s health plan, I’d hope the rest of the compensation package more than justifies it or you REALLY love the work you’ll be doing for them.

 

[icor1031]

I pay $29 per check, and my deductible is $2,300.
My wife pays $102 per check for her and the kids; her deductible is only $1,200 (and even then most of their visits are covered with a copay).

If you’re looking at $12k deductibles with a company’s health plan, I’d hope the rest of the compensation package more than justifies it or you REALLY love the work you’ll be doing for them.

$2,300 is your annual max? That's what I meant, but I didn't know how to phrase it.

 

[BinarySynapse]

$2,300 is your annual max? That's what I meant, but I didn't know how to phrase it.

With my plan, $2300 is what I’ll have to pay before my plan starts covering its share of my medical costs (80% for most thing). My max out of pocket is something like $6500.

 

[icor1031]

With my plan, $2300 is what I’ll have to pay before my plan starts covering its share of my medical costs (80% for most thing). My max out of pocket is something like $6500.

That max is what I'm worried about. 6500 isn't as unbearable. What's your premium?

 

[bigddybn]

Honestly these are pretty pointless questions when comparing across company and state lines. Health plans are all over the place due to both regulatory and local market conditions. Health benefits need to be weighed as part of your total compensation package the same way your salary is and just like your salary it will very greatly depending on location and other factors.

 

[Ready4Dis]

They aren't as pointless as they used to be now that plans must meet the federal guidelines so most are close. I remember when they first came out the company I worked for had to change the plans to meet the specific guidelines for the high deductible and low deductible criteria... we got worse coverage and had to pay more...
https://www.healthcare.gov/choose-a-plan/plans-categories/
Again, these are standardized now.. in order for a company to meet the requirements, they must cover this percentage for each plan. If you plan to hit your out of pocket maximum, find a company that offers gold or platinum. You typically pay more monthly but have lower deductible and lower OOP. My son has a heart condition so I made up a spreadsheet to see what the difference was between the plans if I hit the maximum and I think it was only like $1000 difference because one was more per month and less maximum, the other being less monthly but more OOP. We always hit our deductible, but not always our OOP maximum, so I go with a silver plan which works out best in my favor. Everyones situation is different, and not all jobs offer all the plans (and it differs by state as well). Sounds like you just need to know what the plan premium (cost per month * 12) + out of pocket maximum is as that should be your total cost per year (i'm not a healthcare expert, so if I missed anything I apologize).