2011 is almost upon us, which means companies are researching what health insurance they can afford to offer you this year. For those who do still have jobs the health insurance being offered is getting tougher. Most companies cannot afford 100 percent coverage, meaning you are on an 80/20 plan, where you pay 20 percent of all the medical expenses plus the office visit fee. Many office visit fees are increasing as well from $10 to $20 or $25, which could have you going for http://www.nationalpayday.com/
The Affordable Care Act is also changing many other things in relation to job health insurance. You want to pay close attention to these changes and ask your HR department to explain anything that has changed or that may be concerning to you.
One important change of note is the FSA or flexible spending accounts. FSAs have become highly popular in recent years. This account lets you put away pre- tax income for medical expenses. In other words, just like the actual health insurance you pay for, the FSA money comes out of your paycheck. You can decide how much comes out each week and there is a specific amount you can put in the account. FSAs were designed to pay for co-pays and other out of pocket expenses. They also worked for medication costs.
However, the change with FSAs is with prescriptions. You cannot purchase over the counter medications with FSAs any longer. The only way to have the FSA account work for over the counter meds is if your doctor writes a prescription. Thus, you cannot use your FSA account to purchase aspirin, cold medicine, etc. unless you have a prescription. This might help you decide if you want to continue an FSA or how much you want to put in it.
Another issue is with breast- feeding expenses for mothers. Mothers cannot use their FSA accounts for any expenditures relating to breast feeding, even though studies have determined it is the healthier option. There is one consolation in that the government is allowing for unpaid breaks for mothers who breast feed, meaning they can go home or to the day care center on a break that is not paid for to see that their child gets breast milk.
For right now, the best thing to do is research what your company is willing to offer you for health insurance and choose what works best. It might be something outside of employment.