So does the bronze HSA (cheapest plan we have). You just may have to pay more to go there.

What would cause you to need to see the best surgeon in the country?

Lets say you have DPMP and I have the Silver HSA. We both get the same crazy disease and need to see this best surgeon in the country. So you go there and spend a billion bucks and I go there and spend a billion bucks. At the end of the year here is what your out of pocket costs would be with the DPMP and mine would be with the Silver HSA.

DPMP: $2,350 plus premiums of $528x12 so a total of $8,686

Silver HSA: $10,200 plus premiums of $176x12 so a total of $12,312 (that is out of network) In network would be a total of $7,212 but I couldn't go the the best guy in the country. If that best guy happened to be in the network, I would pay LESS than you would when premiums are factored in.

So to go to the same guy for the same illness I pay $3,626 more.

Now if you and I go all year and have no issues here is what happens.

DPMP costs you $6,312
Silver HSA costs me $2,112

I save $4,200 and put that in my HSA. Both of us spend the same amount, but I have the $4,200 and you have the piece of mind that in the extremely unlikely case you need to see the best guy around, you can. (so could I if I want to spend $3,600)

The difference between me and a lot of guys here apparently is I take the emotion out of insurance buying and buy what makes the most sense $$ wise and risk wise when purchasing insurance. Others buy it based on an emotional need of not having to worry which I get, I would just rather have the $4,200.

Delta says that of all the employees only 5% ever reach the co-insurance max BTW. I wonder what that percentage would be just within the pilot group.

@Lobo, thanks for shedding some light on this whole decision. I was not aware that to be eligible for the DPMP dental one also had to go for the DPMP medical, so for me that takes that option off the table. When I go to change my elections I still see 3 dental options (with no medical coverage already selected: Basic, Comprehensive, DPMP. However, I can't say that I tried selecting DPMP to verify if it popped an error.

@GBU-24: I read it to mean that the DPMP dental cost ~$7.5 less per pay period so about $15 less per month.

That's what I call dropping the mike and walking off stage.

You also didn't even factor in the tax breaks from putting money into an HSA plus the potential investment gains from the different funds you can place your money in (provided your HSA has at least $2,000)

Dude the gym is awesome. Also hit up BB's Blues and Soups. I met Rick James there back in 2003, before he died. The Landing rocks!!

The Silver Non Network Family Deductible is $15,600. Assuming you're married, you must first meet that. The Family Out of Pocket Limit for Non Network on the Silver plan is $10,000. That kicks in AFTER you've met the deductible, it does not include the deductible, or the premiums. Annual premium for pilot and spouse $1600. So if you go maximum usage, you're in for about $27,000 for the year.

The Family DPMP Annual Deductible is $700. The Out of Area Coinsurance is at 80%. The out of pocket Max for a family is $4000. So, $4700 plus an additional 4400 for Annual Premiums and I'm at $9100 for one year of coverage for me and my spouse, all in, out of area maximum usage.

If I don't go to maximum usage, I only have to meet the 700 dollar deductible before the 80% coinsurance kicks in. For the silver plan, you're paying 100 percent to 7800 bucks if you are in network, or 100 percent to 15,600 if you're out of network. That's where the real cost is. If you never get sick, or break a bone, or get your appendix out, then you'll probably build up a nice reserve in your HSA. But I find that every year it's something, usually a few things.

No lifetime limit for DPMP health coverage. Not sure about the Silver...

I've chosen the Diamond HSA since it's been available and have hit the max OOP every year(high maintenance family members), sometimes painfully early in the year(April one year!)and have no complaints on how claims and such have been handled.

The chances of you hitting the family out of pocket max is probably about the same as winning Mega Millions. You don't have to meet the family deductible for an individual, just the individual deductible. So if your entire family gets cancer then it becomes a factor.

I'll admit one thing here. The most likely risk any of us have is having your entire family end up in a car accident in which everyone is injured. In that scenario, you would hit the family out of pocket max. Statistically that is still most likely not going to happen to any of us during our lifetime. So I choose to take the savings in premiums between the DPMP (best plan if you all get in a wreck) and the silver HSA and invest those in my HSA. Sure, I'm exposing myself to more risk. If the very unlikely event occurs that I hit the family out of pocket max, I can come up with max out of pocket and not go bankrupt. That's what a 9 month emergency fund is for.

Lobo / Bam,

TRS / Delta Dental Comp is prob the best coverage. ~$245/mo for both.

Wheels

My personal feeling is that we will see the same thing happen with medical plans that we did with the pensions.

1. It's "contractual". So was the pension. It can become non-contractual especially since ALPA is the one who is keeping it contractual.

2. Those of you who think its not necessary to save into an HSA fall into the same group of dead zoners who thought it was not necessary to save into IRA's outside the pension. When the plan goes away you are left with nothing.

I'm going to max out my HSA every year. I can more easily do that by choosing a lower premium plan ($4,200 a year vs the DPMP) In 30 years I'll have close to a million bucks to fund my healthcare during retirement. Someone who goes the DPMP route will spend the same amount of money as I will, but won't have anything in an HSA. You remove a lot more healthcare cost risk over your lifetime by doing this than paying for a low deductible plan early on in life.

The crazy thing about this is that we have options because everyone has a different situation. Some on here should go with the DPMP for sure, no questions asked. HRA's will be gone so the Gold HRA is a plan to get out of. Gold HSA is probably the best for DPMP fans because it has low deductible AND lets you save into an HSA. Silver is probably the best plan for most people. Bronze would be ideal for anyone who is single or has no children. I just think the DPMP is a little pricey, but I will admit it is the least risky (which is why it costs more).