Should I shop around for health insurance?

Question

My employer's health insurance costs me 762 a month for family coverage. (my employer pays for 65% of the single plan) the deductable is $500. Is this a good plan

Answer 1

Yes but at the same time go with someone reputable as you dont want to get stuck with c**p insurance.

Answer 2

I would definitely shop around for insurance if I were you.  This is a pretty high cost plan.  Although low deductibles are good, sometimes the cost of having a low deductible far outweights the costs of having a high deductible plan.  Many high deductible plans now still allow doc visits for say $30 - $50 bucks.  If your family does not use your medical insurance very often, then you defiantly want to weigh the cost of paying that much for insurance.  If you can get a plan were you pay only say $400 a month, then you just have to see if the savings ($4322) is less than what you normally would pay out of pocket, or worth the higher deductible.

Answer 3

Is it good?  We don't know - we have NO idea of knowing what the coverages are.

But I can tell you, the average family plan costs $1200 a month.   And private policies don't cover maternity, at that price.

So if you're shopping because you think you're paying too much - you aren't.

Answer 4

Don't listen to anyone that claims to tell you that you can't possibly find a cheaper plan - even if they claim to have 101+ years of experience as an agent.

There is no way that they could possibly know whether $762 is a cheap price or not for you because they do not know your zip code, # of family members, age of family members, whether anyone smokes, etc. etc.

Individual health insurance will usually be about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of a group health insurance plan with similar benefits (although you will have to pay extra if you want maternity coverage on an individual policy).

The thing is you probably will not find a cheaper plan after you take into account that your employer is paying 65% of the group premiums. However, if the employer is only paying for 65% of your premiums and not for your family members then it will probably make sense to split the family up and put the other family members onto a much cheaper individual health plan.

Either way you should compare rate quotes at least once every 6 months to see what kind of value you are receiving for your premium dollar. Stick with a large and trusted company like a United Healthcare, Blue Cross, Aetna, Humana, etc.

Here is some more information on finding a solid family health insurance plan: