Health insurance in residency

[Was Framed]

I'm new here, but I would appreciate anybody's insight into this question.

Does anyone have any information on which residency programs offer the best deals/cheapest insurance for residents and their families?

Of course it's going to depend on the number of family members, the plan you pick out, etc. But does anyone have any more information than the generic stuff each program list on their website?

Thanks!

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[styphon]

My residency had one plan - but it was no cost regardless of how many kids you had covered. If you want further info you can contcat me.

 

[IlDestriero]

My program offered free coverage for families as well. It was a nice perk. I'm not sure it's that rare. It wasn't my Cadillac faculty plan, but it was fine.

 

[Was Framed]

My program offered free coverage for families as well. It was a nice perk. I'm not sure it's that rare. It wasn't my Cadillac faculty plan, but it was fine.

Thanks for the reply. From the digging I've done so far into about 40 programs, it seems as though family coverage runs on average from 250-450/month for the basic plans.

If anyone is interested, KU, U of Iowa, Carolinas, U of Buffalo each have plans that are fully covered by the residency program...some of these cover dental and vision as well. If anyone knows of more programs like these, I'd love to hear about them...or what others with families have done for insurance during residency.

 

[Bbroush]

Thanks for the reply. From the digging I've done so far into about 40 programs, it seems as though family coverage runs on average from 250-450/month for the basic plans.

If anyone is interested, KU, U of Iowa, Carolinas, U of Buffalo each have plans that are fully covered by the residency program...some of these cover dental and vision as well. If anyone knows of more programs like these, I'd love to hear about them...or what others with families have done for insurance during residency.

I don't mean to resurrect such an old thread but does anyone know of a comprehensive list of what programs cover health insurance for families?

 

[Crayola227]

I don't mean to resurrect such an old thread but does anyone know of a comprehensive list of what programs cover health insurance for families?

No, that doesn't exist unfortunately.

I believe ACGME requires that they all have some sort of coverage offered, or at least one you can buy picked out.

The issue is the individual details of what the plan covers, deductible, copays, Rx coverage, and monthly premium. Some have better or worse coverage for deliveries. I heard of one resident having a baby and it cost $700 and for another, it was $16,000.

Usually the premiums are quite affordable for you salary, but as far as how much benefit you get....

You can look on the websites or call HR of the programs you're interested in before applying if it will make a huge difference. Others just apply and then look if it matters more in ranking programs.

Remember to budget for your monthly Rxs and your copays for the start of the year before you meet your deductible.

My monthly Rxs were $700 out of pocket until I hit my $3000 deductible, so a lot for me upfront in the year.

 

[cbrons]

This is something I've looked at very closely the past few weeks as my wife and I formulate our rank-order list.

What is pretty surprising is how different each program is with regard to the cost of health insurance on both a per-individual and per-spouse+family basis.

Generally there is one price for just insuring the resident. The price increases if the resident wants to also add insurance for his spouse. It increases again if you want to add both spouse AND child (at all the programs I've looked at, there is one price for Resident + Spouse + Children, and doesn't matter how MANY children). There is obviously also a Resident + Child option (with spouse left out).

What is driving me absolutely crazy is how this one particular issue is influencing my rank-order list. I've had to move down programs on my list that I really want to rank higher because the cost of health insurance to cover my wife and 2 kids is prohibitively expensive. It is a lot to ask for a resident making $47,000 per year to pay $800 per month for insurance for his family. Heck even if its just $600, that is too much IMO.

The other thing to remember is that is just the premium. Another thing that greatly differs is exactly what the plan covers. I've seen insurance plans from University programs (where the University health insurance is basically what you get) where the cost is like $300 per month. But then you look at the details and there is like $6,000 deductable plus $50 copays for a lot of basic office visits. Then there are places that are $600+/month but there is low deductable and free office/preventative services within the university health system. Then there are places that $0/month premium but you have pay like 20% of all health care you actually receive.

Complicating all of this is dental insurance, which is a whole nother rigamarole. I've seen varying premiums for this as well.

What really really sucks is a program I wanted to make my #2 has now been moved to #4 because the insurance premium are $7,200/year and the coverage is pretty garbage-tier (the dental insurance itself is like an additional $150 with high copays). Thanks, Obama.

 

[IlDestriero]

Stanford used to cover families at no cost to the resident. Quality insurance not some student health/high deductible crap plan. I don't recall if it was also dental and vision, but I wouldn't be surprised.


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Il Destriero

 

[Bbroush]

This is something I've looked at very closely the past few weeks as my wife and I formulate our rank-order list.

What is pretty surprising is how different each program is with regard to the cost of health insurance on both a per-individual and per-spouse+family basis.

Generally there is one price for just insuring the resident. The price increases if the resident wants to also add insurance for his spouse. It increases again if you want to add both spouse AND child (at all the programs I've looked at, there is one price for Resident + Spouse + Children, and doesn't matter how MANY children). There is obviously also a Resident + Child option (with spouse left out).

What is driving me absolutely crazy is how this one particular issue is influencing my rank-order list. I've had to move down programs on my list that I really want to rank higher because the cost of health insurance to cover my wife and 2 kids is prohibitively expensive. It is a lot to ask for a resident making $47,000 per year to pay $800 per month for insurance for his family. Heck even if its just $600, that is too much IMO.

The other thing to remember is that is just the premium. Another thing that greatly differs is exactly what the plan covers. I've seen insurance plans from University programs (where the University health insurance is basically what you get) where the cost is like $300 per month. But then you look at the details and there is like $6,000 deductable plus $50 copays for a lot of basic office visits. Then there are places that are $600+/month but there is low deductable and free office/preventative services within the university health system. Then there are places that $0/month premium but you have pay like 20% of all health care you actually receive.

Complicating all of this is dental insurance, which is a whole nother rigamarole. I've seen varying premiums for this as well.

What really really sucks is a program I wanted to make my #2 has now been moved to #4 because the insurance premium are $7,200/year and the coverage is pretty garbage-tier (the dental insurance itself is like an additional $150 with high copays). Thanks, Obama.

What programs were better? Thanks for the informative post!


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