Yeah good thing the legacy plan is still available to new pilots... Oh right...it isn't.

Way to defend RAH. Our legacy plan is comparable to AWAC PPO and it is still more expensive than theirs and their pilots make more than we do.

AWAC is also a dying company. And what is so wrong with an employee ACTUALLY liking his company? I think it's a generational thing nowadays to hate your employer. It's not a money thing either: just look at UPS. The company stuffs their pockets full of money and they(most of the pilots on this forum) have nothing but bad things to say about the hand that feeds him. I dunno, but my parents taught me to respect your elders AND your superiors.

What you really should want to know as well is what percentage of the premiums will you pay. At LXJT it's 25%, at ASA it's 30%, at SKW it's around 38% if I remember. PSA's just went up on the concessions they took and it's ramping up towards 35% I think. Those are the ones I know off the top of my head.

I guess so, but it's the end dollar that comes outta your check. Or are you saying that the higher% the employee pays, the more reason to stay away from the company?

Wow yeah that explains it all. Bet you got a hard on reading that obedience easter sermon from BB right before our TA vote. Unbelievable. No wonder RAH is stuck with the worst contract in the industry. Thanks Loon.

The end dollar definitely should be taken into consideration. Just pointing out that for a comparable plan, you may pay more in premiums at one place versus another. It's one of those things that is definitely part of your total compensation, yet doesn't show up in your W2 (like B fund contributions, matching funds, per diem, etc). That is the amount that your company pays on your behalf for a given health plan they offer. They may offer really nice health plans but if you are paying for 50%, then it's not necessarily as good as a silver plan which you only pay 20% of the premiums. The other thing to keep in mind is what the company can do as far as changing deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, prescription drugs, etc. Some contracts like ASA's, there is a limit to how much the company can gut. At XJT, they have to offer the pilots at least a good of a health plan they offer any other employee (including upper management). At Skywest, they have no limits on how badly they want to gut it out.

All these things should be taken into consideration.

SKW has no limits because they have no cba, is that why?
You seem very knowledgeable of the insurance business. Maybe I can pm you for advice some time!

No, I don't think that I'm that knowledgable about the insurance business. These are just the basics that I've learned over the years. Contracts may have limits on them of some sort. The best contracts will specify what minimum level of coverage is required (deductible, copay, coinsurance, Rx, etc) AND the limit on what percentage of the premiums you will have to pay. Those without a contract are like the majority of the rest of America. Their companies pass on the increasing cost of health care to its employees by increasing the percentage the employee pays OR they lower the level of coverage (increase deductibles, copay, coinsurance, etc). This is why high deductible health plans are exploding. They have lower premiums which both the employee and employee save on. But they transfer more of the financial responsibility and risk to the employee, unless the employer funds their HSA to a level comparable to a traditional health plan deductible. But then that defeats the whole purpose and increases the costs back to the employer. So many times employers will lure it's employees into these HDHP by offering to fund a relatively small portion of their HSA in order to cover for the increased deductible. Always a big win for the employer.

It's just like auto insurance. When your premiums go up (which you pay 100% of), you either pay the higher premium or you lower the amount of coverage (which includes the deductible). Or you go to another insurance provider. But with an employer, if you do that, you lose the percentage of what they pay for your premiums. So you'll end up paying more for a comparable plan.