In case anyone is interested, (and because I thought it might be interesting to document the process) we lost our health insurance in the recent job change. John prefers to work for small companies where the person he reports to is also the owner of the company. I don't blame him, it's nice that way. We avoid the BS of corporate jobs where you are expendable because someone had a bad day, or your hours get cut because someone needed a bigger bonus. (Yes, these things all happened with his previous employer. Funny thing is, that he is such a good employee that they called him back in less than a week, begging him to come back. He. Said. No. Good man.) Because his new job is at a small company, they do not offer health insurance. They don't have to. So I did something I have never before been able to do.... I went to the marketplace to find out about coverage. This is really important. I've shopped for health insurance before. When I did I had to make applications at each of the companies to get quotes. so if I was interested in five health plans, that meant five applications. This time, I only had to fill out one application.
 |
| Um, yeah. If you could just take a 25% pay cut so I can afford more hookers and cocaine, that would be great. |
I think it is important to mention here that you can get a pre-application quote on the Kaiser Family Foundation site, but it comes with all sorts of caveats. Basically it tells you that this is a middle of the road plan, with no tax credits included and no information about your family included. So, it's inaccurate. The quotes given do seem kind of pricey, but then I compared it to what we were spending on health coverage with the previous employer.
According to the KFF website I can expect to pay between $4,433 and $6,090 per year for a health care plan. These are Bronze and Silver plans, respectively. According to my benefits enrollment from from the previous employer, we paid $5747 a year for benefits. I'm not certain if their plan is considered a silver or bronze plan. In my opinion it was an aluminum plan, but I digress. I'll keep the benefit info and compare it when I get more information. Either way, they KFF site tells me I'll pay approximately what we paid before.
 |
| You, sir, are well covered. |
Plus we get a refund if we stay healthy and don't use our premiums. Considering that I went to the doctor twice last year, once for pink eye, and once for an annual exam. John went once, and Trystan's care is through a non-profit hospital, we stand a good chance of recovering a portion of our premiums at the end of the year. (And don't give me that crap about the companies losing money, I worked for a reptile who made healthy profits on a less than 10% profit margin, if these guys can't make it on a 20% profit margin, they're doing it wrong.)
So I decided to fill out an application. Yes, the website sucked and I could not create a login, so I did this crazy thing. I CALLED THEM.
 |
| Operator, connect me to the communists! |
The voice response unit was good and I got to request a representative within two responses. (I've worked in call centers most of my adult life. Getting a rep withing two responses on a VRU is AMAZING.) There was no hold time before I was connected to a representative, but I was asked if I would participate in a survey. I declined. I then spent 20 minutes with a very pleasant young man who took my application over the phone AND tolerated my bad jokes. He even had the good grace to chuckle once or twice.
 |
| I don't get paid enough to deal with you, ma'am. |
I realized today that I had given incorrect information about my husbands employer. John was on the road and unreachable, so I had taken a guess and looked up the company info on the DOT website. I picked the wrong company. (Lesson learned: don't take me to Vegas.) I called back to update my application. I spoke to another very pleasant representative who took the updated information. Again, I did not to wait to speak to anyone. I asked how long it would take for my app to be approved, and he informed me that it would be a couple of weeks, but as long as the plan was chosen by December 15th, my coverage would be in place on January 1.
I will keep you updated as the process continues.
