Healthcare increase

[cj25]

Not sure if this is just petty or if I should bother asking.  My work bases your medical premiums on your salary.  I just got my annual increase which now pushes me right over the line into the next amount.  My raise before tax is about $166/mo.  After taxes & deductions I only see an $85 increase in bring home.  The increase in medical premiums will go up $21.  So I will only about see a $65 raise in my check.  Should I complain or just let it go?

[Mother Fussbudget]

Is this a HDHP allowing for an HSA account?

A $21/mth premium increase seems a little steep to me.  BUT... the news is full of talk of health care premiums going-up anywhere from 10-to-20% across-the-board in 2016.  I would MAX OUT that HSA ('tax-deferred-future-retirement-funds') account, transfer the HSA funds into the attached HSA investment account, watch those little worker dollars grow, and call it good.

[forummm]

My guess is that they would be happy to lower your salary again if you ask them to.

[jda1984]

My guess is that they would be happy to lower your salary again if you ask them to.

Exactly.  The line has to be somewhere.  At least your next raise won't increase your premiums (unless you go over the next bracket, then congratulations!).

[I'm a red panda]

My guess is that they would be happy to lower your salary again if you ask them to.

Yep.

I'm not sure what complaining would do. The increase in premiums is not higher than the raise; so the OP is still getting a raise.   If the premium increase was greater than your raise, I would ask them to lower your salary.

Also- do you typically get a tax refund at the end of the year?  If so, your take home pay is artificially low. You can mess with your deductions to increase your take home pay and not get that refund.

[randymarsh]

I don't think complaining will do much, but I wanted to comment that I've never heard of this sort of benefit structure. Health insurance premiums have always been the same cost regardless of salary everywhere I've worked.

[ETBen]

I don't think complaining will do much, but I wanted to comment that I've never heard of this sort of benefit structure. Health insurance premiums have always been the same cost regardless of salary everywhere I've worked.

Its getting more common. Granted I work in the industry. But my last job we got differing "rewards" based on our salary class. Those were used towards our premiums. New job has an HSA and the contributions from the employer for premium and HSA vary based on salary grade.

[redcedar]

Have a conversation with your direct manager to make them aware of your concern and frustration. They may not understand the healthcare impact or failed to consider it during the raise process. This may due to a lack of knowledge or they may be juggling so much that they meant to check into it and just failed to get to it in time.

I doubt that you will change the policy with your concerns but you can help your direct manager see the impact, demoralizing, of a raise to right above those certain thresholds. Also, bring this up in your next few annual reviews, in a polite but frustrated manner, and see if you can score a slight bump or two that will help offset it in the long run.