Fed Health Ins Question

[spunkarella]

My small company offers health insurance, but we both use DH's federal employee insurance because it's better.

We just switched to a new plan and the insurance people who came to talk to us seemed surprised that we wouldn't have to pay a penalty for me to use DH's insurance since I am eligible for insurance through my own employer.

I hadn't heard this before and I'm having trouble finding an answer online. DH is less than helpful because he hates dealing with financial stuff and has trouble navigating the system.

Does anyone here have experience with this? I know we seem to have a lot of Feds around here.

[atarianna]

It's becoming more common for companies to do this but thankfully Fed does not.

[sjh722]

I think this is becoming common.

My parents own a small business and said they were switching to an insurer who charged per # of dependents on the plan vs. single, couple, or family rate, and passing that on to the employee, because so many employees keep post-college kids on there (who are employed and have access to insurance but choose not to buy it).

[ssmjlm]

It's becoming more popular, but thankfully the govt isn't doing it yet. I will be pissed if they do as DH's options are the suck.

[curbsideprophet]

Unless it is a recent change, this is not an issue for federal employees. At this point I am paying the family rate for me and the kids, the rate does not change if DH is on the plan or not.

[Deleted]

Aug 22, 2014 11:13:00 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

I think this is becoming common.

My parents own a small business and said they were switching to an insurer who charged per # of dependents on the plan vs. single, couple, or family rate, and passing that on to the employee, because so many employees keep post-college kids on there (who are employed and have access to insurance but choose not to buy it).

All carriers in my state are already doing this, and I am pretty sure this is nationwide as well. Also dependents 21-26 are a higher rate than those 0-20.

[laurenh]

Not a thing for feds, at least not yet. H's employer only offers and HMO and it's much less money for me to just put everyone on mine with family coverage.

[spunkarella]

Aug 22, 2014 10:55:25 GMT -5 atarianna said:

It's becoming more common for companies to do this but thankfully Fed does not.

Yay! Good to hear.

One coworker's spouse has excellent coverage, but they would have to pay a $5000 penalty if coworker refuses our coverage to go with the better plan.

ETA: pay a $5000 penalty to her H's company because that's their company policy, nothing to do with federal penalties.

[msmerymac]

My husband's company charges an extra $20 a month if the spouse has access to his or her own insurance through an employer. However, I do not have employer-sponsored health insurance, so we don't have to pay that. TBH, I also think our premium for both of us is something like $150/month, so the $20 isn't a deal breaker if the other person's insurance was, say, not subsidized at all by their employer. Only if you are on the cusp of it being better.

[nomad100]

Yeah, my company won't allow a spouse to get on our plan if they don't also have the coverage through their own employer (so my company's insurance is the secondary coverage). Paying a penalty isn't even an option. They just don't allow it.

But our plan is self-funded so the rules are pretty strict (and the coverage is pretty good too).

[starburst]

There has been talk about this happening in the school district I work for, which worries me. DH is on my insurance because the insurance offered through his company sucks and is also incredibly expensive (cheapest plan is about $1,200/month, most expensive is about $3,000/month).

[sjh722]

Aug 22, 2014 12:29:46 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Yeah, my company won't allow a spouse to get on our plan if they don't also have the coverage through their own employer (so my company's insurance is the secondary coverage). Paying a penalty isn't even an option. They just don't allow it.

But our plan is self-funded so the rules are pretty strict (and the coverage is pretty good too).

What if you have a SAH spouse? Are they not allowed to be on the plan?

[nomad100]

Aug 22, 2014 12:42:22 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

Aug 22, 2014 12:29:46 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Yeah, my company won't allow a spouse to get on our plan if they don't also have the coverage through their own employer (so my company's insurance is the secondary coverage). Paying a penalty isn't even an option. They just don't allow it.

But our plan is self-funded so the rules are pretty strict (and the coverage is pretty good too).

What if you have a SAH spouse? Are they not allowed to be on the plan?

Yes, they can be on the plan.  A SAHM or SAHD doesn't have the option to get insurance offered by an employer so they can have my company's insurance as primary.

This is how the "rule" works.  If spouse works for Company X, and Company X offers health insurance to their employees, spouse has to get Company X's health insurance. They cannot opt out of Company X's insurance and just be on my companies insurance. If they have Company X's insurance and my company's insurance, Company X is primary and my company's insurance is their secondary insurance.

My company also requires you to have medical coverage on your auto insurance.

[Deleted]

DH's employer (a university) charges a $1,200/year penalty to cover me since my employer offers coverage.

So I have a HDHP (the sole option at my company) while DD and DH have the better PPO. I figured I'd rather put that $1,200 in an HSA, which at least is tax-advantaged and can be rolled over if I don't spend it.

[hbomdiggity]

Eeek. I hope H's co doesn't do this. They actually offer me a discount for biometric screening.

[Deleted]

this is becoming more common & I'm afraid that the Fed gov will eventually do it because they have been pushing to break the premiums down by EE/SP/CH/FAM vs EE/FAM already. They make a move to push those people to the exchange.

[L]

H's previous employer charged a $50/month penalty to enroll a spouse in their health insurance plan who had access to insurance through his/her employer. They also gave employees a $50/month credit for declining their health insurance, and it cost us less than that to add H to my company's plan so it worked to our benefit.

[thatgirl2478]

Nope, we never had to pay any sort of penalty for me to use DH's insurance when I had access to my own.  DH is a fed with the VA, I worked in the private sector.

[rachaelnicole]

DH's company does this. I think it's like an extra $100/month for a spouse who has the option of health insurance at their place of employment. I think a lot of people just lie.

[Deleted]

I'm a fed. H has a very good policy at work but it is cheaper for me to insure the kids. So I have a family plan that includes H as his secondary even though he also has his plan through work (his is free for him and he has much better dental and eye for him so it's worth it).