Healthcare Hits Home

After almost nine years working for the same company I have decided to leave and go to a much smaller company. The two major factors in my decision to leave were (1) a very good opportunity to do what I love for a long term and (2) a much better healthcare package. I was very surprised by the second reason. I'm moving from a place that employs the equivalent population of a small city down to a place with about 50 people. You would think that a large corporation would have much better buying power than a tiny company, but I guess that isn't the case.

In 2001, I had a great health plan. The monthly premiums were low and most co-pays were about $10. I think the highest co-pay was $50 for an ER visit. Over the years I've seen all these costs go through a 100% to 300% increase. Finally, we had to switch plans from an HMO type plan to a high deductible plan. The monthly premiums were about the same but the yearly out-of-pocket expenses have increased drastically. As an example, the birth of our first child in 2002 cost a total of about $150. That included prenatal visits, delivery, recovery, and the first couple of well-child visits. Similar services for our third child born 12 weeks ago has cost us over $3,000. We're lucky enough to be able to afford these kinds of costs, but I can't imagine what it is like for people making a lower household income.

The new health plan is still a high deductible plan, however the yearly out-of-pocket max is much less than our old plan. We also have a much better health savings account where we can rollover unused money from year to year. The combination of the better healthcare plan and a good job made the decision to jump ship much easier. I only hope that I enjoy the work as much as I think I will.