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Sorry, affordable healthcare. Sure, public plans exist, but most state exchanges are 2k a month. It's not the same, because the insurance pools are different. C

Sorry, affordable healthcare. Sure, public plans exist, but most state exchanges are 2k a month. It's not the same, because the insurance pools are different. Check the coverage plans: https://www.wahbexchange.org/new-customers/coverage-basics/plans/#2021 https://www.wahbexchange.org/new-customers/coverage-basics/p... Except for a few situations, it's mostly bottom tier insurance pools. Meanwhile, my insurance PPO ranged from $0.0 month (high deductible) to max ~$50.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
They are not that different in my experience. The same metal level plan on healthcare.gov are pretty similar to what employers will be offered by the insurance companies. There might be some savings for those working at white collar firms with younger employees like tech and finance and law, but that will not apply to most people in the US. Your portion of the insurance premium was $0 to $50 per pay period via your employer, but the cost of your insurance was still much higher, probably the same as healthcare.gov. Check code DD in box 12 of your W2 to see how much your employer paid, and you can compare the actual price of your health insurance. Edit: NJ puts out a nice document that anyone can estimate their premium for based on metal level and age. Note that $2k per month would be for family coverage of 2 old people, but for young people it would be a third. Also note that prices for young people are extra high due to subsidizing old people due to stipulations in ACA limiting premiums for old people to be 3x those of young people. See “age rating factors” box at bottom of pdf. https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcrates2021.pdf https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcrates20...
- jorblumesea 5y ago
  They are significantly different if you see the plans and the network you're in. Just look at the costs for the plans I linked above. It's really not the same, or even close. Let's take one of the more popular plans on the exchange for Washington state. https://www.insurance.wa.gov/rates/bridgespan-health-company-2021-premiums https://www.insurance.wa.gov/rates/bridgespan-health-company... https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/bridgespan-individual-health-rates-2021.pdf https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/bri...
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Those premiums look the same as those for employer sponsored health insurance: https://www.statista.com/statistics/632151/premiums-for-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-in-us-by-state/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/632151/premiums-for-empl... https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Collins_state_premium_trends_2020_Tables.pdf https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2020-11... https://files.kff.org/attachment/Summary-of-Findings-Employer-Health-Benefits-2019 https://files.kff.org/attachment/Summary-of-Findings-Employe...
    - jorblumesea 5y ago
      Those premiums are significantly above what corporate employees pay. My premiums at my current and last job were way below those figures. Keep in mind "private employers" is a huge bucket and would encompass a wide range of companies, including smaller companies with likely small budgets. It is not reflective of many of the benefits many SWEs would get.
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        Again, I am talking about the total cost of insurance, not just the portion of the cost of insurance that an employer asks an employee to pay. Just because an employer is paying for $18k out of $20k of your annual health insurance premiums (again, check code DD box 12 of your W2), does not mean that health insurance costs (meaningfully) less for an employer. It is simply a portion of your total compensation, which both employer and employee prefer to go via the employer due to the ability to purchase it with pre tax money, hence an immediate savings of 30% on the insurance premium portion of one’s expenses. To go back to the root of this conversation, my purpose was to clarify that “healthcare via employer” is simply an artifact of the tax code and results in savings of tax rate * annual health insurance premiums.
        jorblumesea 5y ago
        I just think that's wrong. Private insurers pools are still less expensive, even if the employer was not going to pay some percentage of your premium. If you look at the plans that most large employers have (Microsoft, Amazon etc) their total premium cost is still far less. I understand what you're saying, it's just not correct for the vast majority of large company workers. Your total private insurer cost is all of the US, which includes many small businesses which are on inferior plans. But for an swe, your total premium cost is far less (regardless of how much your employer chips in) due to the fact that your private insurer pool is filled with relatively wealthy, educated workers. Private mom/pop pool != private Microsoft/Amazon pool. What you're saying is just...wrong...for most talented eng workers.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

They are not that different in my experience. The same metal level plan on healthcare.gov are pretty similar to what employers will be offered by the insurance companies. There might be some savings for those working at white collar firms with younger employees like tech and finance and law, but that will not apply to most people in the US. Your portion of the insurance premium was $0 to $50 per pay period via your employer, but the cost of your insurance was still much higher, probably the same as healthcare.gov. Check code DD in box 12 of your W2 to see how much your employer paid, and you can compare the actual price of your health insurance. Edit: NJ puts out a nice document that anyone can estimate their premium for based on metal level and age. Note that $2k per month would be for family coverage of 2 old people, but for young people it would be a third. Also note that prices for young people are extra high due to subsidizing old people due to stipulations in ACA limiting premiums for old people to be 3x those of young people. See “age rating factors” box at bottom of pdf. https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcrates2021.pdf https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcrates20...

jorblumesea 5y ago
They are significantly different if you see the plans and the network you're in. Just look at the costs for the plans I linked above. It's really not the same, or even close. Let's take one of the more popular plans on the exchange for Washington state. https://www.insurance.wa.gov/rates/bridgespan-health-company-2021-premiums https://www.insurance.wa.gov/rates/bridgespan-health-company... https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/bridgespan-individual-health-rates-2021.pdf https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/bri...
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Those premiums look the same as those for employer sponsored health insurance: https://www.statista.com/statistics/632151/premiums-for-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-in-us-by-state/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/632151/premiums-for-empl... https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Collins_state_premium_trends_2020_Tables.pdf https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2020-11... https://files.kff.org/attachment/Summary-of-Findings-Employer-Health-Benefits-2019 https://files.kff.org/attachment/Summary-of-Findings-Employe...
  - jorblumesea 5y ago
    Those premiums are significantly above what corporate employees pay. My premiums at my current and last job were way below those figures. Keep in mind "private employers" is a huge bucket and would encompass a wide range of companies, including smaller companies with likely small budgets. It is not reflective of many of the benefits many SWEs would get.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      Again, I am talking about the total cost of insurance, not just the portion of the cost of insurance that an employer asks an employee to pay. Just because an employer is paying for $18k out of $20k of your annual health insurance premiums (again, check code DD box 12 of your W2), does not mean that health insurance costs (meaningfully) less for an employer. It is simply a portion of your total compensation, which both employer and employee prefer to go via the employer due to the ability to purchase it with pre tax money, hence an immediate savings of 30% on the insurance premium portion of one’s expenses. To go back to the root of this conversation, my purpose was to clarify that “healthcare via employer” is simply an artifact of the tax code and results in savings of tax rate * annual health insurance premiums.
      - jorblumesea 5y ago
        I just think that's wrong. Private insurers pools are still less expensive, even if the employer was not going to pay some percentage of your premium. If you look at the plans that most large employers have (Microsoft, Amazon etc) their total premium cost is still far less. I understand what you're saying, it's just not correct for the vast majority of large company workers. Your total private insurer cost is all of the US, which includes many small businesses which are on inferior plans. But for an swe, your total premium cost is far less (regardless of how much your employer chips in) due to the fact that your private insurer pool is filled with relatively wealthy, educated workers. Private mom/pop pool != private Microsoft/Amazon pool. What you're saying is just...wrong...for most talented eng workers.