Received Friday, September 19, 2008 - Perspective & Opinion
I need some advice. My husband does not believe in paying for health insurance, it is an argument we have had more than once. The nanny I have now is wonderful, and I would like to provide her health insurance. Rather than have this argument again with my husband, how hard would it be for me to obtain health insurance for my nanny on my own. This would mean it could not be tied to our family's policy. Is this easy to do?
27 comments:
have her join the freelancers union. They offer an insurance plan which costs about $400 a month. We pay for it for our nanny
2:17 PM
RE-POST
That is a very generous offer! I work as a nanny but I am unable to get any health insurance because of a couple knee surgeries, etc.
I am sure that gesture will be much appreciated.
Yes, the Freelancers Union is great (if you're in the NY/NJ area). Hopefully there are other programs like that in different parts of the country.
Have your nanny get her own insurance and give her money once a month to pay for it. This is what a lot of families do.
$400.00 a month>> Yikes! As a 30 yr old with no smoking or drugs to speak of,in fairly good health A Blue cross plan would cost about $200.00 a month. That is if it is available in your state of course!
Actually, $400 is inexpensive when it comes to insurance. An independent policy where I live costs about $476... I know because thats what I have. And then it has the nerve to be a high deductible health plan... so it's not the most expensive one! Joining the union sounds like a great idea.
great banner Jane!
I agree with Sydney White - $400 is A LOT! I pay for my own insurance and it's about $200/mo. I have Blue Cross, and it's a pretty good plan - no deductible, $10 for generic drugs, and $35 co-pay for doctor visits. I think you should just give her extra money to pay for an individual plan. I hear you can also get Kaiser Plans for relatively cheap.
It all depends on whether or not she is someone that insurance plans are willing to cover, and if she isn't, she and you are both screwed and there is no way she can get an individual plan.
My husband is on Kaiser, is 42, and has no particular health concerns. He is $253/mo with a deductible (don't remember how much), $50 copays and no prescription coverage, if I remember his plan right. I have too many "marks" and insurance fiascos to detail but I pay $408/mo and it's sure to go up to at least $450/mo for next year.
I have actually wondered how employers go about adding an employee to their insurance, since the employee can't be called a dependant.
And if she is a FT employee, how would she be eligible to join the Freelancers' Union?
I just want to point out that if you do choose to go against your husband's wishes, you could have a bigger problem on your hands than expensive insurance. I'm no marriage expert (although I am studying to be!), but it doesn't seem in the best interest of your marriage to lie to your husband. Is there a better way to go about doing this? Perhaps research some policies, or some nanny sites on specifics of pay and benefits and present him with facts. I assume that since you want to pay for insurance you are paying her on the books. There are ways you can do the insurance thing without having it on your own family's policy. If you're paying on the books you should have a tax ID number... you're an employer, essentially a company owner. Do you think that the owner of a company adds every employee to his or her private health insurance? For sure no. There are other companies that do that. If you use a pay service, like Paychex, they may even have resources for you.
Do a little more research and give him some options. A marriage is a team effort. So are all the decisions that go into a family. Like your nanny's pay and benefits. If your husband is at all a reasonable, practical man, he will listen, understand, and you all can come to a compromise that meets both of your needs. If he's not, well, in my almost professional opinion, it's time for counseling, and possibly a separation. (But I do hope that not the case.)
Cali Mom- most insurance plans offer something called a COBRA, which is when someone pays to have someone on their insurance. When I aged out of my father's insurance plan, I could have bought into his COBRA, but it was soooo expensive (he had full Teamster benefits, which would have cost me just over $1000/ month for a healthy, non-smoking, non-drinking 23 year old). I ended up buying a plan for just a few months until I got married and was added to my husband's insurance.
I think that it was a REALLY crappy plan, just your basics, with a $5000 deductible, $150 co pay on hospital visits and $30 for doctor (max 2 visits/ year) and it was around $179/ month. Healthcare in America sucks so bad.
Have you looked into HealthyNY.com? This is an awesome resource for discount insurances. It does have somewhat low limits for income - for 1 person it's less than $2167/month. But that may be worth it to your nanny and you to adjust her income and try to come up with a creative solution to qualify. I also agree that Freelancer's Union is a great resource for nannies, but is more expensive.
www.ehealthinsurance.com will ask you a few basic questions of your nannys health (age, smoker or not) and give you a list of options for your state.
Generally, I think BCBS, or aetna are good choices and have decent plans. BCBS is probably one of the better ones. If the cost is more than you want to bear, you could offer a contribution. My bosses give me $200/mo for health ins. and that's pretty standard in my area. If she doesn't qualify for regular health ins. due to past health issues etc, some states have special programs for these people who are denied coverage elsewhere.
First off go you for being a good employer and a decent human being!!!
I was sick as a youngin' (childhood cancer) and am still battling small issues every now and again...a lot of what I have doesn't cause much hospital time but I am high risk. When I left my last nanny family I was paying 768.00 a month for only me!! and it had been raising 100.00 for every year I was on it...that was medical mutual...I hope she's healthy!!! It could be pricey!!
I live in Orange County Ca and my insurance thru Kaiser is $258.00 a month, and thats a group plan. It pays nothing until I reach $2700. deductible. Then it pays 70 %..It pays no RX. Nothing. Im 50 and I dont smoke or drink,,,never have. I do get meds but they are $60 a month at Walmart. Sucks.
omg..I have been on my husbands insurance for so long I had NO idea how crazy exspensive it is!!
We pay $212.00 a month for our family of 5..$15.00 office visit co-pay and $250.00 deductible .
The only down side is that he is a Government employee and they do not offer Dental or vision..also no disibility if he gets hurt on the job or becomes ill and needs time off to recover.
I am so sorry for all of the nannies who have to pay such high premiums..to the OP..MIMI said it best..you are fabulous..your nanny is lucky.
Just my opinion,don't go behind your husbands back,your marriage and children come first..nanny next..find a compromise..pay half..pay all..find out about adding her as a dependent..argue the point and do it anyhow.. but make sure your husband knows.
best of luck and congrats on having a nanny you obviously care so much about..sounds like a happy match!!
It sounds like a nice idea. Some people on here have some good advice. Just think, because of you, she will be happier, more enthusiastic, more loyal and have a more postive attitude towards your family and her job. I personally do not have health insurance because I cannot afford it.
BTW-
The banner at the top is really sad. A nanny blowing smoke in the kids face? Come on. What's next, nanny hacking off the baby's head with a samurai sword?
Not funny. I know smoke in the kid's face happens (sadly), but do we need to see cartoons doing it also? Some of us are already horrified at the things we read here about nannies. Don't mock them.
Take a chill pill melissa. Of course it's sad, but have you not noticed all of the posts about people smoking near kids lately, especially nannies? I think the banner sends a strong message, and maybe people will see for themselves just how wrong it is.
Hmmm...I'm not sure I would lie to my husband over this. Talk with him...until you can come to an agreement. Even if you don;t get your way, that's no reason to sneak behind his back like an errant child. Otherwise, once he finds out...and he will....he will never trust you the same again. Don't you want trust and respect to be the foundsation of your marriage? show him some...and try to deserve it when he gives it those things to you.
But, as an aside, it is very nice that you want to treat your nanny so well. Just don't do it at the expense of your marriage. What you have belongs to him as much as to you. He has a right to have an equal say in financial decisions.
My only other thought to you OP is that you need to add a couple other points to your argument to your husband..
*why would we want someone caring for our most beloved children to not feel up to par and have no way to go to the doctors to feel better so she can give the children 100 percent of herself?
*Why would we want someone who cares for our children to have an inkling that we don't care enough about her to offer her a health plan to take care of herself?
*we are employers, and we need to offer some sort of access to health coverage for her because she might look for a job else where if she finds she would like benefits and we wouldn't want to replace her or have the kids put through a change like that...
I agree $400 a month for a single individual is way way to high. Call blue cross/blue shield! I had individual insurance as a nanny when I was single(2years ago) for around $150 and my deductable was really low and my copay for Rx was like $10-20.
Unions don't always offer the best rates.
If my nanny was interested in health insurance then I would have her price it out and then give her that amount in a monthly raise. This is what my first Nanny family did and it worked great.
So, Op,
what's it going to be?
Marital counseling or insurance for the nanny? Was this advice of any help?
PLEASE update us.
We are all eager to know.
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