Now this is an interesting development. I work for a little company in northern California. But I live in Chicago. Our medical coverage is horrendous. I pay over $1000/month for the three of us. Closer to $1200/month, if I'm remembering correctly.
So I called BC/BS of Illinois to see if there was a family plan I could get to replace it. Turns out BC/BS of Illinois offers domestic partner coverage in group plans, but not in individual/family plans. They need a marriage license. I asked the woman if it had to be a marriage license recognized by Illinois law, and she said no.
(So much for the lamers who claim that there are legal tricks available to bring us up to the same rights as straight folk.)
So...
She's sending out a mailing to me, and I'm going to check to see if there's something that'll save me money. And if there is... well, Iowa is like a 4 hour drive from here. We were planning on waiting until either Illinois offered SSM or until DOMA got repealed, but it may be worth our while to go ahead now.
Damn, I need to go on a diet.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Does your state provide health insurance for children? Friends of mine get it for their daughter free from the state just by saying they refuse to pay for it themselves, even though they are both well into the middle class.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
No offense to your friends, but I couldn't possibly do that, even if it were an option.
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
Well, congratulations. Hehe.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
<grin> Hold those.
Posted by DarkKnight (Member # 7536) on :
I think what Stephan was saying is that your children will be covered by the state if you do not cover them. You might be able to save a bit of money that way
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I think what Lisa is saying is that she has a problem with accepting state aid like that.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
I think what Lisa was saying is that she would consider it immoral to do that, even if it was legally permissible and would save her money.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
Lisa is very strongly opposed to government (see any thread on libertarianism) and from what she has shared, she applies those beliefs. Like she doesn't believe in public education and so her daughter goes to private schools.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I'll take money from the state. Hell, I pay into it; I'm no martyr. I've received unemployment benefits before, and while I don't think there should be any, I prefer to stop availing myself of it at the same time that we manage to get it cut across the board and our taxes lowered to match.
But I wouldn't try and get unemployment benefits if I were working. That's fraud. And since if I could only pay for medical care for me or my daughter, I'd pay for her, claiming that I won't pay for her in order to get the government to pay just kind of smells bad to me. YMMV.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
What state do you live in? State Unemployment is generally an employer tax. I believe only New Jersey has an employee unemployment tax that they have to contribute to.
If you are paying over 1k a month that IS a ton. I'd look at some of the private providers. If you can get the same coverage from a 3rd party provider then you are set. The company I work for goes through Aetna, and the domestic partnership plans are the same price as anyone else.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
quote:The company I work for goes through Aetna, and the domestic partnership plans are the same price as anyone else.
And that price is probably over 1K a month, it's just that the employer is paying most of it- a benefit Lisa doesn't appear to have.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
$1000 for a family sounds typical to me. Though, I am told that being in Texas, I am used to worse health insurance than in other states. I don't know how true that is- in Arizona I was on my dad's insurance which was really great but also he was union and that was a big priority for them (and also a decade ago).
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
My boss doesn't pay any of it. He's talking about giving me a raise by chipping in on it starting this summer, provided that we get a contract signed with a certain customer. But with the hikes in the cost of the insurance and the fact that I haven't gotten a raise since I started back working for him, I'm netting about $6K a year less than I was back in 2007, when I went back to work for him. Pisses me off. And I know that part of it is my inability to haggle.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
They have a link at the bottom of the page that you can click on and type your zip code in and get quotes from different health insurance companies. $1,000 is pretty steep if you ask me.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Here in SE Michigan, when my sister started her new job at a hospital as an inpatient coder, she had to pay a little over $1,000 per month for health insurance for her and her husband (who works as a truck driver on a 1099 basis) for the first couple of months. Now that she has become established, the hospital will pay half of that, so she will only have to pay $500 a month. The union is still trying to reach an agreement with the hospital over a new contract; the old one expired some time ago. Maybe they will be able to get the hospital to pay a larger portion of the heatlh insurance.
Ten years ago when my wife was working as a ICU nurse at a hospital in SE Michigan, she got health, dental, and eye care insurance for the two of us, and the hospital paid all of it. At most, there was no more than a $100 deductible if we had to use it. She did have over 15 years seniority, ten as an LPN, then five as an RN. I could have gotten health insurance too where I worked as a computer programmer, but her deal was so much better, so we used hers. (Where I worked, I would have had to pay $400 monthly for basic health insurance for the two of us. Again, this was ten years ago.)
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I hear this everytime I see this thread.
Whoa. Me too.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Ha! That was one of the funniest scenes from The Princess Bride. The tongue-tied priest or bishop or whatever he was supposed to be.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
This is totally un-American.
Its why we should never let people like you get married.
By people like you, I of course mean--Libertarian.
I mean, it is a US tradition that weddings cost an arm and a leg. If the parents aren't able to or refuse to pay for it, then you do the only truly American thing and go into future destroying debt in order to meet the totally impossible Hollywood generated expectations that the families of this country are built upon.
But no.... Ms. Fiscally responsible is considering turning this into a money saving opportunity.
That is just so....so....un-American.
Good luck.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
When my husband taught school, it was $600 a month for the two of us for a plan that paid very little. It drove me nuts to hear about how at least teachers got good benefits to compensate for the crappy pay. At one time, they did a survey and the majority of teachers did not have their children or dependents covered under the plan.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
I pay about about $120 every pay check as a teacher to cover my wife and daughter, I definitely can't complain after reading this thread.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Darth_Mauve: This is totally un-American.
Its why we should never let people like you get married.
By people like you, I of course mean--Libertarian.
I mean, it is a US tradition that weddings cost an arm and a leg. If the parents aren't able to or refuse to pay for it, then you do the only truly American thing and go into future destroying debt in order to meet the totally impossible Hollywood generated expectations that the families of this country are built upon.
But no.... Ms. Fiscally responsible is considering turning this into a money saving opportunity.
That is just so....so....un-American.
Good luck.
My ex-wife and I didn't pay a penny for our wedding. Our parents footed the whole bill.
Is that not what everyone does? Anybody who does differently (and actually goes into debt because of it) is, IMHO, a little crazy. Or maybe a lot.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Originally posted by The White Whale:
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I hear this everytime I see this thread.
Whoa. Me too.
I hear that whenever anyone says the word "marriage."
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
My wife and I paid for everything. We did it because we could and because we find the common custom of expecting other parties to foot the bill (whether it be for the venue, reception, flowers, dresses/tuxes, or whatever else) to be a bit rude.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by rollainm: My wife and I paid for everything. We did it because we could and because we find the common custom of expecting other parties to foot the bill (whether it be for the venue, reception, flowers, dresses/tuxes, or whatever else) to be a bit rude.
I don't know about you, but I'd have been more than happy to live in sin for the rest of my natural life. I chose to make it legal because of my very straight-laced, conservative, religious parents. Also, we were polite enough to keep it relatively cheap. I think maybe a total of $3000 was spent on the whole thing, including reception and ceremony. That cost was split between the parents.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Geraine: Lisa,
If your boss does not cover any of the cost of health insurance, you may be able to find your own that would be cheaper. You can check out
They have a link at the bottom of the page that you can click on and type your zip code in and get quotes from different health insurance companies. $1,000 is pretty steep if you ask me.
Thanks. I've started calling around. I don't like the web ones; they tend to increase spam more than anything else.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Darth_Mauve: This is totally un-American.
Its why we should never let people like you get married.
By people like you, I of course mean--Libertarian.
I mean, it is a US tradition that weddings cost an arm and a leg. If the parents aren't able to or refuse to pay for it, then you do the only truly American thing and go into future destroying debt in order to meet the totally impossible Hollywood generated expectations that the families of this country are built upon.
But no.... Ms. Fiscally responsible is considering turning this into a money saving opportunity.
That is just so....so....un-American.
Good luck.
Don't worry about it. We're already in future ruining debt. <sigh>
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: And I know that part of it is my inability to haggle.
Bit of a weakness in a libertarian. Perhaps you'd better hope your desired reforms never come to pass. Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:Originally posted by Geraine: Lisa,
If your boss does not cover any of the cost of health insurance, you may be able to find your own that would be cheaper. You can check out
They have a link at the bottom of the page that you can click on and type your zip code in and get quotes from different health insurance companies. $1,000 is pretty steep if you ask me.
Thanks. I've started calling around. I don't like the web ones; they tend to increase spam more than anything else.
Use a gmail account for that. They have an incredibly powerful and accurate spam filter.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by King of Men:
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: And I know that part of it is my inability to haggle.
Bit of a weakness in a libertarian. Perhaps you'd better hope your desired reforms never come to pass.
<shrug> Maybe I'll learn. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I supported something that might make life less comfortable for me. But in the long run, I'm happier knowing that I followed my principles even if they create rough patches for me.
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
quote:Originally posted by steven: I don't know about you, but I'd have been more than happy to live in sin for the rest of my natural life.
I was ok with it for about five, and then I started to worry about what would happen if he died. With the magic piece of paper, I don't have to worry about fighting with his dad over his stuff. (Not that he's greedy, just that he's a packrat who doesn't get rid of anything and he'd want momentoes.) I get the money in his bank account. And if he's on life support, I don't have to listen to his divorced parents fight about what to do. I get to just ask his best friend who I know has had that conversation with him.
I was mostly secure before, but I feel better with the government contract. Personally, I already felt we were married before God, and having a Buddhist notary lead us through our vows didn't change that any. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Hope it works out for you. My wife's company just had an inunction placed against them by the FDA, who is trying to shut down all vet compounding labs. He employer leased his accounts to another lab for 90 days, so my wife now works for them. That means our insurance changes, and we lost all of out progress-vs the $2000 deductible.
It sucks. We aren't even sure if we will have insurance now.
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