Feeling backed into a corner

poopshovel wrote: I don't know how the hell you're gonna keep this one from getting political. The jump in rates is not a coincidence. Just be happy you get to keep your 40+ hrs a week...or, even better, you're on salary. Good luck. Also: Obviously not a fan of Obamacare, but your "per person, PER MONTH" thing is way off. If a couple hundred bucks a year is going to "bankrupt" you, I'd definitely look into medicaid. You're obviously paying in. Get your money back.

He did mention 24% of their household income, not an insignificant chunk of change. For my wife and I, that would be quite a bit more (% wise ) than our house payment.

That's insane.

This is your employer, not the laws. Yes, the laws will cause an increase for the working class, but not a 700% increase.

You need to make sure that:

1) your employer didn't berkeley up their literature. 2) that youre not looking at total cost of the plan instead of what you will be responsible for.
3) your anus is lubed properly.

I'll ask around about the exchanges tomorrow. Be warned though, the exchanges are confusing to the big bad insurance companies as well.

In reply to z31maniac:

Roughly double our housing costs.

poopshovel wrote: Also: Obviously not a fan of Obamacare, but your "per person, PER MONTH" thing is way off.

Info I got from my wife who spoke to an insurance guy. Not sure it's accurate at all just what I was told. Of course she is really stressed out now and people are throwing numbers at us left and right so she may have been mistaken. I've got time now to look into everything so I don't feel under so much pressure now.

In reply to Swank Force One:

I agree, however the plan we have now is going away not because of the company it is because the new laws (or so I was told by someone not involved with my company). However because of the promotion I wouldn't be eligible to keep it anyway due to the company. Currently there is no plan to replace the existing plan for my old position. Somehow they have figured out a way to label anyone not in management as "casual employees" (which I've never heard of before) and therefore not "full time". Even though we all work full time+ hours.

Honestly, the only plan designs that were forces to change were the ones that hurt you. Ergo, lifetime maximums, pre-existing, stuff like that.

What's the coverage differences between the two plans?

If it makes anyone feel better I pay about 1700 per month for a famley plan . We in MA got this long before the rest of you all.

poopshovel wrote: If a couple hundred bucks a year is going to "bankrupt" you, I'd definitely look into medicaid. You're obviously paying in. Get your money back.

Also on this topic, it is more like $13,200 more per year. You do the math. I already took a $14,000 pay decrease when I took this job and have no regrets but add those two together and hopefully you can see where I'm feeling the squeeze.

nicksta43 wrote: In reply to Swank Force One: I agree, however the plan we have now is going away not because of the company it is because the new laws (or so I was told by someone not involved with my company). However because of the promotion I wouldn't be eligible to keep it anyway due to the company. Currently there is no plan to replace the existing plan for my old position. Somehow they have figured out a way to label anyone not in management as "casual employees" (which I've never heard of before) and therefore not "full time". Even though we all work full time+ hours.

I am a casual employee. It basically means you are an "on call" employee. Your hours and shifts change from day to day, week to week as needed. If you are doing more than 32 hours a week for I think more than 90 days... you are a full time employee according to the law.

If that is the case, I suggest you have a talk with the state agency that deals with employment as they may want a talk with your employer

Yes, 2 year old information. I wonder how these plans will be effected by the new laws? I suspect they will be protected. To the OP, did your union support the current administration?

Here’s a sampling of UAW benefits under Ford’s PPO plan:

-Monthly health care contributions: none
-Annual deductibles: none
-Co-payments: none (in-network); 10% (out-of-
 network, capped at $500 for a family)
-Prescription drugs: $6 generic; $12 brand-name
-Urgent care visit: $50 co-pay
-Emergency room visit: $100 co-pay (if not admitted)
-Hospital stay: up to 365 days covered at no charge
-Wigs for cancer patients: up to $250 covered
-Hospice care: 365 days
-Hearing aids: 2 every 3 years, up to $2,000 max

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2011/10/28/is-your-health-plan-as-good-as-the-uaws/2/

Rawr. Health care costs are making me angry.

Sorry I can't add anything constructive.

As I understand it broad scale implementation of (Not) Affordable Healthcare has been pushed down the road till after the mid term elections, but even so companies are having to gear up under the new laws.

The laying off of employees to get under certain numbers to change their insurance requirements is a very real thing.

As well as selling off employees to "payroll" companies who then lease the workers back to the company. It's the only way many companies can survive. If you've paycheck has begun coming from another company this could be you.

The number of hours you can work and still be classed as part time has also dropped so if you're part time your hours will drop soon.

As you are seeing, how your company chooses to implement their new responsibilities can seriously affect your costs & options and therefore whether you want to work for certain companies.

The penalty is up to a percentage of your income, but I thought that the plan offered could also not exceed a percentage of your income. Offering a plan that is over 50% of your income should be illegal!

nicksta43 wrote: Somehow they have figured out a way to label anyone not in management as "casual employees" (which I've never heard of before) and therefore not "full time". Even though we all work full time+ hours.

I suspect the way they are handling that is that a memo is circulating mahogany row for editing that that tells everyone that as of January 1, they are only going to be needed for 29 hours a week.

So I guess the gist is unless the company can come up with a plan that is less than 9.5% of my household income, I will be able to get in on the exchange. Or they demote me back and call me a "casual" employee even though I've averaged 55 hours a week since I've been here. Or they lay me off?

Not looking forward to the future.

tough spot you're in ... good luck

just glad I'm retired ... now I need to figure out how to get through the first 4 mo. of next yr. COBRA is expensive, but I "can" afford it ... just hope the price doesn't go up too much for next yr when open enrollment comes out in a couple of months

I'm about 50% sure that in the next couple of years I'm going to just dump insurance and pay the fee. I've never been one to work the system, but in this case I feel like the system is working me. I did what I could to stop us from getting here, but now that we're here, berkeley it - time to get mine.

nicksta43 wrote: So I guess the gist is unless the company can come up with a plan that is less than 9.5% of my household income, I will be able to get in on the exchange. Or they demote me back and call me a "casual" employee even though I've averaged 55 hours a week since I've been here. Or they lay me off? Not looking forward to the future.

Can you find out how much the employer is contributing towards your plan costs? HR should have that information.

For instance, my plan costs over $800/month. But employer covers a large chunk of it. I really can't help but think that you're looking at the total cost of the plan.

I'm looking at my cost of the plan. My employer, as far as I know , cover 0. What I got is what will come out of my check every two weeks.

nicksta43 wrote: I'm looking at my cost of the plan. My employer, as far as I know , cover 0. What I got is what will come out of my check every two weeks.

If your employer is covering 0%, then they aren't really providing you with health insurance. I'm not sure if that's illegal or not, but it's certainly stupid and worthless.

You should definitely be looking at private/exchange.

And a new job, in my opinion. That's IF there isn't a miscommunication somewhere.

I just took a look at my pay stubs - I'm paying about $650 a month ($7800/yr pretax) for medical/dental coverage for a family of four, and I'm bracing for that to go up significantly next year. I get angry every time I think about it, but what can you do?

In reply to nicksta43:

don't try to figure this E36 M3 out on your own. go sit down with the HR person who handles the healthcare plans and go through the numbers with them.

i'm going to go ahead and +1 myself because this is solid advice.

+1

Swank Force One wrote:

nicksta43 wrote: I'm looking at my cost of the plan. My employer, as far as I know , cover 0. What I got is what will come out of my check every two weeks.

If your employer is covering 0%, then they aren't really providing you with health insurance. I'm not sure if that's illegal or not, but it's certainly stupid and worthless. You should definitely be looking at private/exchange. And a new job, in my opinion. That's IF there isn't a miscommunication somewhere.

Yeah, that doesn't seem right. For instance I pay $88 every two weeks for dental/vision/health for my wife and I (HSA plan) and my employer pays about another $260 every two weeks for those as well.

Yeah, I'm getting way to much information all at once. I +1'd ya angry

I would love to sit down with HR they just happen to be many states away. Not sure a phone conversation is enough for me to comprehend it all.

nicksta43 wrote: Yeah, I'm getting way to much information all at once. I +1'd ya angry I would love to sit down with HR they just happen to be many states away. Not sure a phone conversation is enough for me to comprehend it all.

Pen + notebook and follow up calls, if necessary.