Questions on insurance....

You should call and ask the recruiters this question before you start with any company if you plan on participating in an employee benefits program. This was a key factor in my decision making process. I went so far as to make a chart comparing the benefits programs of the several companies that I was considering. It helped nail down my expectations for my income/budget, thus helping me make a good decision.

 

Insurance I believe has no cost. You get an extra penny a mile if you DON'T take it. If you do take it then you pay the first 3000.00 out of pocket for everything after that then Millis covers everything.if you elect family coverage then I believe it's 6000.00 out of pocket before Millis covers the rest. Keep in mind the out of pocket includes office visits, prescriptions, ER and all procedures. There are no co-pays. I personally don't take it. However I do participate in family dental, vision, short term disability and 401k. All that cost me about 14.00 a week estimate. They will go over it in detail next week. Hopefully I was able to give you a little insight tho.

 

BTW. When I say no co-pays what I mean is. If you go to the doctor for something then you pay out of pocket the total cost of that visit. What ever the dr charges. If you take prescriptions then you pay the full amount for that also. Once you have accrued 3000.00 in expenses then the company pays the rest. They do offer a flexible spending account where you can have an amount deducted from your pay each week to use for these costs when they come up.

 

That type of plan is called an MSA (Medical Savings account) or HSA (Health Saving Account) PLUS the High Deductible Health Insurance Plan. Has tax advantages...at least currently.... the new law like it or not is going to eventually cannibalize these plans into non-existance.

 

Great info. Thanks. Being self-employed for the last 23 years, I have no coverage now. But I have no problem paying for my regular doc visits or my BP meds. I was hoping for something that would simply kick in if I bust a leg or need my appendix out or something like that. Sounds like that's pretty much the case here, and the high deductible means it's probably not all that expensive for the company. Do the dental & vision plans work on the same principle?

What's the lowdown on the 401K? What are the employee/company match percentages? Can you pick and choose between "safe" and "growth" investments?

 

the insurance does have a cost. If i remember correctly it was around $25 a week for single and like $40 something for family. but that was a year ago. you do not have to make the decision in class. you have 30 days to make your decision. they will go over prices in orientation.

 

I believe the 401k is a 3% company match up to a certain amount. and you can choose from a couple different package options for "safe" to "risky". I actually made my own percentages up because i knew a little more about investing from past investments. So i took a larger percentage into foreign stocks. but you can either pick a package or write your own percentages down. I compared mine to another person i know who chose a prebuilt package and mine is doing slightly better.