PilotJ3

Delta Pilot Medical Plan, IMO is the best choice, specially if your family has special needs.

yes, it’s expensive and it doesn’t have a savings account.

But, I never had coverage issues, it includes the same deductibles out of network and your deductible is $350 a year.

If you’re single, then save the money.

Theres a new copayment option, haven’t heard any opinions on it.

kc46guy

The first one is from: [email protected]
The second from: [email protected]

The second e-mail looked much less "official" than the first one, had the same content, and included two extra lines with a link to the assessment and login ID that were easy to miss.

trouljaboy

Also having trouble with this one. If anyone wants to PM me tips that would be greatly appreciated!

Meme In Command

I was hired very recently. Interview to Cisive email was 2 business days. Cisive email to Indoc class date was 9 days. I’m civilian and military, so surprised it happened that quick. I guess all I can say is submit your stuff as soon as you possibly can when you get that background check email.

TheDuster

For me, the biggest difference was switching from the track pad on my laptop to a mouse. Made it far easier to control, in my opinion. I also had to force myself to use the reference dot that shows you where you are in the tube. My initial inclination was to just eyeball things, but using the position reference dot gave me the best idea of where I was in space. I still crashed quite a few times, but it was apparently good enough to get my to the interview and eventually Indoc. Good luck.

Tropical

The new copay plan looks like a copy of the DPMP with slightly higher deductibles, nominal copays for everything, and premiums about $200 less a month. It is a traditional PPO plan. It seems like a decent middle option for a family if you don't want the Cadillac DPMP that is like an all inclusive resort, or the high deductible plans. If you have minimal health care needs, take an HDP. If you have high medical needs (chronic conditions that need to be managed), take the DPMP. Somewhere in the middle, like a typical family, take the Copay Plan.

tennisguru

This idea comes up every year that a heavy healthcare user is going to be better off on the DPMP compared to the HSA, when in fact in most cases the opposite is true.

Some math (assuming a family plan for everything):

DPMP yearly premiums: $8016 + Max out of pocket $7700 = Maximum cost you would bear of $15616
Gold HSA yearly premiums: $3828 + Max out of pocket $7800 - Company HSA cash contribution $2200 = Maximum cost you would bear of $9428
Silver HSA yearly premiums $1392 + Max out of pocket $13100 - Company HSA cash contribution $2200 = Maximum cost you would bear of $12292

As you can see both HSA plans are significantly lower on cost for extremely high user families who are going to max out every year. The Silver HSA is actually cheaper than the Gold as long as only 1 family member hits the individual max. Most normal users (myself included) tend to take the Silver HSA to guarantee the $2436/year premium savings on the gamble that we won't have more than 1 family member hit the individual max.

I personally know a couple of very high use families (long term health issues, medically fragile children, etc) and every year they use one of the HSA plans and are saving money as a result. This is mainly due to the huge difference in monthly premiums with the DPMP being so expensive.

Now, there are a handful of cases where the DPMP will be cheaper for an individual or family even with the higher premiums. For one, the DPMP coverage is the same for in- or out-of-network care. So if you have no viable in-network options where you live (especially for specialists, hospitals, or other high cost services) then the DPMP will be your better option. Also, the prescription copay coverage of the DPMP is far and away better than the HSA's if you have a family member on one or more very high-cost drugs.

Outside of those 2 cases, almost every pilot would be better off on one of the HSA plans. And those numbers don't even take into account the double-tax benefits of investing in your HSA. Tax free money going in, and tax-free growth. If you are hired at 35 and put the current max allowable contribution in ($7200, but company contributes $2200 of that amount for you for families), and it grows at 8% for 30 years, and you don't pull any out, that'll grow to over $800,000. So you save taxes on your total contributions of $150,000 ($5000X30), and you've got $800k that can be used completely tax free for any medical expenses for the rest of your life once you retire. Plus it acts as another tax-deferred account if used for non-medical expenses once you retire.

HSA FTW.

Tropical

Great analysis. Thank you.

TED74

A great analysis! I just wanted to emphasize that there is no time limit to reimbursement. So, if you save receipts for every health expense you pay on your own while enrolled in the HSA, you can reimburse yourself 10/15/25 years later - before or after retirement. Want to buy yourself a 50k electric Miata down the road? Cobble together your receipts from a couple of decades of not-yet-reimbursed expenses and make a withdrawal from funds that have been growing tax-free. It’s like magic if you can cover current medical expenses without touching your HSA money along the way.

tennisguru

Preach it!