While thinking about the cost of coverage for my family I was thinking that mine is probably very expensive too. This is paid 100% by my employer but if the family cost is any inclination then it probably costs them at least $500 for my portion. Do you think that it is worth talking to my employer and trying asking for a raise in exchange for opting out of the health insurance. I could ask if I could opt out and out of the ~$6k savings for my boss receive a $5k raise (so its a win win) I could then purchase the same catastrophic plans as my wife and baby for about $150 more and use the savings to pay for potential health costs.
Just found this thread for the first time. I am quite familiar with your predicament as I went through the same process trying to find affordable coverage for my wife and daughter since my employer does not contribute toward family healthcare premiums on its group plan.
My employer's family healthcare plan premiums are a level per-employee cost, regardless of the number of kids or age of the employee or spouse. Works well for employers who pay family premiums (it helps avoid discrimination claims based on the cost to insure certain employees), but for my small, young, health family of three, that means comparatively exorbitant health insurance costs.
I inquired about opting out of the group health insurance plan and found out that the employer would give me a small amount of money in a flex spending account if I did so, but it was not nearly enough to justify opting out completely. I put together a spreadsheet of numbers showing the problem and potential savings to my employer if they could give me more $$$. They looked into it and told me that if they did so, they would have to offer the same benefit to everyone-- which would greatly increase the employer's total cost of providing health benefits.
Then I asked about a raise in lieu of the flex spending account contribution. Again, they looked into it and said no because giving me a raise would increase the employer's payroll tax obligation-- giving me enough money to make it worthwhile to opt out of the employer plan would result in an overall increase in the cost of compensating me. Plus there would be the whole "I-have-a-higher-salary-than-employees-more-senior-than-me" problem.
I truly don't begrudge my employer. I understand where they are coming from and how over time they came to be in the position they are in. But it sucks to be forced to pay so much out of pocket post tax for health insurance coverage. I just view it as the one downside of what is otherwise a pretty good gig for me.
Only 4 months in, but other than the cost of his birth, ForuMMM Jr has cost me $0 in medical care. The well child visits (1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, etc) are free because of the ACA. Vaccines are free too. If he gets sick in a way that needs a doctor visit, then I'd have to pay something. So far that hasn't happened. And there isn't a lot they can do if your kid gets a virus at day care other than tell you to do the basic stuff (fluids, etc). And if something really expensive happened, you'd only be out a few grand.
This is a big benefit of the ACA. You almost get back dollar-for-dollar what you pay in premiums for the baby on the immunizations and well baby checks that are 100% covered.