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Insurance is a fair point I hadn't thought of. I guess there is some link between "full time" vs "part time" and insurance in that sense. I assume it isn't wor

Insurance is a fair point I hadn't thought of. I guess there is some link between "full time" vs "part time" and insurance in that sense. I assume it isn't worth being "part time" and paying for the insurance gap out of pocket. Bargaining power tends not to work that way. I'm in Australia so this isn't a thing for me.

tombert 3y ago
> Insurance is a fair point I hadn't thought of. I guess there is some link between "full time" vs "part time" and insurance in that sense. It can depend somewhat on the job. When I was a part time adjunct last year teaching two classes (six credit hours) at a public university, I was given the option for health insurance. I don't remember what the premiums were but I remember they were lower than marketplace plans. > I assume it isn't worth being "part time" and paying for the insurance gap out of pocket. Bargaining power tends not to work that way. Since the Affordable Care Act, the prices are somewhat more regulated and they're not really allowed to "decline" you anymore, so the "bargaining power" thing isn't as bad as it used to be. Paying out of pocket for insurance is expensive but not insurmountable for basically anyone working in tech, and certainly you can factor into an hourly rate. In NYC there's the MetroPlus system, and the cheaper plan on that is around $1250/month for two people, which equates to roughly $15,000/year [1]. An employer plan in NYC will still typically have anywhere between ~$100-$600 monthly premium for a family plan, so anywhere between $1200-$7200 per year of just premiums (not counting what you pay before reaching your deductible), depending on the company and which plan you choose within the company. The US healthcare system is needlessly complicated. Still, it would certainly be better to not pay $15,000/year if I can avoid it, so before I try doing half-time contracting I am going to wait for my wife to start working. [1] https://metroplus.org/plans/individual-family/marketplace/bronzeplus/ https://metroplus.org/plans/individual-family/marketplace/br...
Loughla 3y ago
I'm in the US. I just had to turn down my dream job because it doesn't have health insurance benefits. The cost of insurance on your own is so ridiculous that we were around 35k apart in salary just to make up the insurance difference. So I had to say no to it. This is life in the US.
- tombert 3y ago
  Obviously don't dox yourself, but roughly where do you live? I just looked up insurance premiums for Oscar Health and it was $2,000/month for one of the budget plans, so about $24,000/year? It can be extremely variable between cities so I'm not saying that this applies to everyone, but when I checked against my NYC zip code, that's the number it gave me.
  - eszed 3y ago
    If you (or your partner) have complex medical history / needs then a budget plan won't cut it. $35k is a very realistic figure.
    - Loughla 3y ago
      Bingo.

tombert 3y ago

> Insurance is a fair point I hadn't thought of. I guess there is some link between "full time" vs "part time" and insurance in that sense. It can depend somewhat on the job. When I was a part time adjunct last year teaching two classes (six credit hours) at a public university, I was given the option for health insurance. I don't remember what the premiums were but I remember they were lower than marketplace plans. > I assume it isn't worth being "part time" and paying for the insurance gap out of pocket. Bargaining power tends not to work that way. Since the Affordable Care Act, the prices are somewhat more regulated and they're not really allowed to "decline" you anymore, so the "bargaining power" thing isn't as bad as it used to be. Paying out of pocket for insurance is expensive but not insurmountable for basically anyone working in tech, and certainly you can factor into an hourly rate. In NYC there's the MetroPlus system, and the cheaper plan on that is around $1250/month for two people, which equates to roughly $15,000/year [1]. An employer plan in NYC will still typically have anywhere between ~$100-$600 monthly premium for a family plan, so anywhere between $1200-$7200 per year of just premiums (not counting what you pay before reaching your deductible), depending on the company and which plan you choose within the company. The US healthcare system is needlessly complicated. Still, it would certainly be better to not pay $15,000/year if I can avoid it, so before I try doing half-time contracting I am going to wait for my wife to start working. [1] https://metroplus.org/plans/individual-family/marketplace/bronzeplus/ https://metroplus.org/plans/individual-family/marketplace/br...

Loughla 3y ago

I'm in the US. I just had to turn down my dream job because it doesn't have health insurance benefits. The cost of insurance on your own is so ridiculous that we were around 35k apart in salary just to make up the insurance difference. So I had to say no to it. This is life in the US.

tombert 3y ago
Obviously don't dox yourself, but roughly where do you live? I just looked up insurance premiums for Oscar Health and it was $2,000/month for one of the budget plans, so about $24,000/year? It can be extremely variable between cities so I'm not saying that this applies to everyone, but when I checked against my NYC zip code, that's the number it gave me.
- eszed 3y ago
  If you (or your partner) have complex medical history / needs then a budget plan won't cut it. $35k is a very realistic figure.
  - Loughla 3y ago
    Bingo.