So today we got introduced to our new health care benefits.
Prime among the new features:
1) There is no longer a lifetime maximum benefit. It used to be $5,000,000 but now it’s unlimited.
2) Your dependent children are covered to age 26!
3) You can no longer be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition.
4) We now can register our domestic partners on our healthcare plan.
5) Our life insurance benefit rises from $100,000 to $200,000.
That last one is part of the health plan since Aetna is a one stop shop.
Yet we pay the same premiums we’d paid for a couple years. I’d say that is an improvement.
I adopted for a consumer driven plan. The company will chip $1,300 in and my total premium is $22 per pay period. I plan on starting a Healthcare Savings Account (HSA) and chipping in $125. All total at $147 it’s cheaper than the 80/20 plan I’m on now.
So basically per month it comes out to $294 a month for two people. Not too shabby.
Oh and the deductible while high, can be covered with funds from the HSA so in essence, the company contributes $1,300 every year, and I’ll be chipping in $3,250. So here’s the breakdown:
Year 1: $4,550
Year 2: $9,100
Year 3: $13,650
Year 4: $18,200
Year 5: $22,750
The deductible is $4000 but that’s for diagnostic tests and things of that nature. Checkups and basic healthcare are 100%, no copay.
And the nice thing about HSA is even if I leave the job, I still have $20,750 (assuming I use none of the money in the HSA) to use for health coverage until I exhaust it.
So I’d say these are all positive effects of healthcare reform.