Hit the health plan jackpot: A $5K pay raise

Non-trick question: What’s the price difference between a health plan that covers a family of two and that same plan’s new self-plus-one option? Same two people, two very different sets of premiums. Give up?

Answer: $5,110. The person with the traditional family plan (whether that family consists of two people or 20 people) will pay $100 a week more for the same coverage than someone who moves into that plan’s new self-plus-one (S+1) option. So what’s the catch? Actually there two catches…

First and most important, is the plan you are in now. The plan with the biggest 2016 premium gap — the difference between the famly plan and the new S+1 option — is the MD-IPA plan. It’s an HMO and most of the people who are in it live in the metro Washington area. Its family premium this year (regardless of family size) is $8,870. But if a two-person family downsizes and moves into MD-IPA’s new S+1 option this month, the premium will drop to $3,760. No change in benefits, doctors or services. Just a $5K plus savings in premiums. Money that goes directly to your pocket. Or your direct deposit paycheck account. But it is yours to spend. The equivalent — if you and your plan fit the mold — of a $100-a-week pay raise.

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