Cohiba,
I live in DFW, so lots of in network(all my doc's). I'm just covering myself and a child. They look like the same coverage(preventive 100%, co-insurance in-network 80/20, out of 60/140 and prescrips the same) The only difference I see is the deductibles of 1150/2300 vs 2150/4300. Unless I'm missing something(highly likely) in a worst case max deductible situation I'm out an extra $550 family and $350 individual with the silver. If my usage is like last year which was standard(annual checkup for my son and I, and usually one or two visits each for a cold or other minor issue((knock on wood it continues this way)) So for me it looks like if I have another status quo year I save $700 dollars per year with the silver. I do agree if you go out of network it is a no-brainer. What am I missing?
Originally Posted by
Cohiba
If you have a family with little kids, definitely DO NOT do the Silver HRA. The biggest plus for it is what you identified-low premiums. The negative is the deductible side. Both in-network & out-of-network is high and we've had several instances where a family has a castrophic event using the Silver HRA and gets hit with massive $20k+ bills. The Silver HRA was designed for healthy younger single person who wants basic coverage and "some" catastrophic protection. If you live in a major Hub like ATL most if not all the medical provides are in-network and most of your needs will be covered. But if you live in an area where UHC isn't pervasive...you should check the costs for max-deductible for out-of-network.
For most pilots...you should be looking at the Gold HRA or HSA and run the medical planner. Most likely the Gold HRA is better unless your family is a major user of medical or needs a lot of meds (HSA includes the meds in their deductibles and the HRAs do not).