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danielfletcher t1_iyaa8va wrote

There is usually a greater difference in the employee premium between the two plans.

There could still be potential long term gains/savings by being able to max out the HSA yearly, but unless you're doing that and don't have anything outside of your yearly covered physical and one visit to your eye specialist it could quickly cost you more out of pocket.

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zk2997 OP t1_iyaawjy wrote

Ok that makes sense. Definitely seems like the PPO plan is really good based on the numbers.

This is the only company I’ve worked at full-time with benefits so I have nothing else to compare to.

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danielfletcher t1_iyacal4 wrote

Most likely, those coverages are after your deductibles. And the out of pocket maximum is your deductible + copays after deductible. And then at that point they cover 100%.

So you would pay $400 of charges until you hit your deductible, then your 20% (or $40 specialist) copays until you've paid another $1600. So the most you'd pay per year out of pocket is $2000 (Not counting your biweekly premiums).

If that is how your plan is written, that's not bad for your biweekly premium rate. So even if you got really sick or injured and needed care tomorrow, worst case you're looking at getting $2000 in bills even if you had a $100k surgery + ICU stay. Still better to live healthy and not take unnecessary risks.

Does your employer offer additional short-term or long-term disability coverage? Some employers pay 100% for their employees or offer it for a very cheap subsidized deductible. I've had it fully covered where I'd get 80% of my current pay for both short and long term, or wound up being like just $4 or $5 a pay period. That adds up if you're next to broke, but as you get more established in life it seems relatively cheap for the peace of mind. Similar to how renters insurance is like $8-$10/month and if something happens you will be thankful you had it.

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Humble_Manatee t1_iybtx5x wrote

As an example - my company has the same two offers for insurance and here is my breakdown :

  1. PPO - premium 2500/year. $500 deductible. 90/10% after deductible

  2. HDHP - premium 550/year. They contribute $500 to my hsa. Deductible $1500. 90/10% after deductible.

I suspect most at my company are taking #2.

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reddititty69 t1_iye8r54 wrote

What’s the max out of pocket for each? I have a similar setup and if I were to max out the PPO costs me 7K more per year.

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