Many large employers offer potential employees many benefits other than a straight salary. The compensation package could include a car allowance, a 401k retirement plan, and health insurance benefits. Employers do not have to offer any of these inducements by law but, once they do, they have to apply the rules fairly. All employees in a certain class (full-time, management-level, engineers) must have access to the same benefits. Consider four things when deciding to take a job that has health benefits.
How Good Is the Plan?
Every group health plan is different. Important variables are copays, deductibles and coverage. Can you see your own doctor or only doctors in the group? Are you covered for routine visits or only for catastrophic illnesses or accidents? A plan with a $5,000 deductible will not be effective for you if you don't have $5,000 to pay it. The more coverage a plan offers, the more expensive the premiums will be, but there will be less financial risk to you.
Whom Does the Plan Cover?
Some group health plans offered by employers only cover employees, not their families. You may be able to cover your family if you pay the additional premium. If the plan is good, it will be beneficial to get the increased coverage unless your spouse can get family coverage cheaper. If your family is covered under the plan, the employer is required to offer COBRA continuation coverage for a length of time after your employment ends. This coverage also would extend to your immediate family.
Who Pays the Premiums?
A company may offer a gold-plated health care plan but require that the employees pay all the premiums. Before accepting an offer of employment, make sure to determine how much of the premium the employer is going to pay. That amount represents extra compensation to you and should be included when comparing various job offers. If you have to pay the premiums, compare the plan to individual health care plans you can qualify for. There may be instances where you can get an individual plan that is tailored to your needs for less than a group plan that has coverage that you do not need.
How Long Before the Plan Kicks In?
Most health plans don't become effective the day you start your new job -- even though you usually will begin to pay premiums then. Some plans take 30 to 90 days of employment before you have access to the benefits. It is important to know exactly when those benefits kick in so that you can find temporary health care coverage during that time frame. Otherwise, you may find that you have a gap in coverage that could put you at risk for unexpected medical bills.
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