They sent out some preliminary information about our health care options for 2011 and I have to say, they look worse than I had even imagined.
Last week, I wrote about how I was getting nervous about our options.
From the looks of things, they are altogether canceling the option that we had, which was a PPO with no deductible as long as we stayed in network.
The PPO option that they do have is much more expensive, the coverage is reduced, co-pays are higher, and there is a $500 per person deductible.
They also have an HMO type option, but that is actually the most expensive option and doesn’t really provide all that much more coverage. It’s obvious they don’t want people to use that.
The only remaining option is a High Deductible / HSA option. This seems to be what companies are pushing employees to.
What really sucks is that for every single option, the biggest out of pocket increases are seen by those with families. People getting coverage just for themselves actually see their costs go down with some plans, and with moderate increases in others. People who are providing coverage for themselves and a spouse have moderate increases, but those of us with families look to be paying an alarming out-of-pocket cost.
My initial number crunching shows that this could be to the tune of $2,400 per year out of pocket on top of what we paid in 2010. Not even counting that co-pays are doubled, coverage is worse, and there seem to be limits on things that there weren’t before.
Sweet.
Oh, and no raises this year.
Sweeter.
I’m reserving final judgment until they come out with the final plans, which should be in the next week or two.
Of course, the way things are looking, they’ll only make it worse between now and then.
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