How many thousands of dollars would you cut off your salary, in exchange for better health benefits?
I’m going to have a baby. Or rather, my wife is.
We’ve been talking in depth about what to do regarding our health insurance once the baby comes. I’m on a catastrophic plan, as is our 5-year-old son. My wife’s on the same plan, as well as a separate plan which provides much better benefits.
So when our next child comes, we can:
1. Add him to the catastrophic plan, which means we pay through the nose with all the doctor visits we’re sure to make in the first year.
2. Add him to the separate, better benefits plan, which adds a couple hundred more dollars a month, but then we can add our 5-year-old to that plan as well at no additional cost.
3. Drop my wife from the catastrophic plan, and then I’m the only one on it, which makes that plan a couple hundred less per month.
4. Tear our collective hair out, because the options are just “lesser of all evil” options.
And this is indicative of the kinds of choices you may face in your new job search. Thousands of dollars per year ride on the health care benefits offered by your company, the company of your spouse/partner, and your family planning.
In fact, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report last month examining how “the average growth in health spending exceeded the growth of the economy as a whole by an average of 2.5 percentage points.”
According to their website, the report “also examines the impact of health care costs on families, with insurance premiums rising 87% between 2000 and 2006, more than four times the growth in wages.”
With this kind of expense growth – and considering the senior care issues you may be about to face with your aging parents – it may turn out that a lower salary offer paired with a great health plan may be the better choice for you.
So before you leap at the big number, take a careful look at the health benefit situation – and don’t forget to factor in the vision and dental as well.
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