I've been here for 7 years, I think I have a pretty good understanding. I'm just not expressing to you well enough what I mean.
I know Canada has health care for all, and I know you can optionally buy more with your own money. Great.
All I'm saying is I wish employers were not involved in buying it for me. Healthcare should be divorced from employment for a whole range of reasons. Go and live in a country where healthcare and employment have nothing to do with each other and you'll see what I mean. I'm not just talking about me either, I'm talking about my friends, neighbors, workmates. Their options are all limited because they don't want to change employer because of the health benefits.
Part of an employer offering health benefit is to compete against other employers. They don't have to buy it, and you don't have to accept it. However, few employers offer a buy-out policy, which is something I would really like to see.
Currently I'm on GWL through my employer. While it's not the greatest, it's not bad for the amount of money. However, if I had the choice, I'd take the money from my employer and add my own cash to it to buy something like Blue Cross.
Couple of things to note first however:
1. It's not impossible, but it isn't likely that you'll be able to find the same coverage on an individual plan for the same price. You could choose to opt for less/different coverage of course that is more to your liking.
2. Talk to your employer... they may be quite interested in learning why you don't care for the plan. One of the reasons I so like HCSA's is that you aren't limited to such a narrow scope of services... it is basically your company saying "Hey, for medical and dental here's $2K a year. Spend it on whatever CRA figures is a medical expense." A good benefit consultant should be able to work with your employer to make their plan something that is attractive to employees.
3. Pay attention to the things your employer pays for beyond health and dental. They're probably paying for Life Insurance, Dependent Life, ADD, LTD etc etc. Some of these benefits can be a lot cheaper in the plan, and are nothing to top up. Life Insurance for example you can buy as much as you want.
4. Make sure you qualify health wise. Apply for some optional life through your employer before you go out on your own. It would really suck to be rejected privately, then not qualify for re-entry in your employers plan either.
5. I'll say this to anyone - Buy Critical Illness insurance. As much as you can afford. This benefit is such a gimmie it's not even funny. It is basically free money to you (for anything) if you contract a major illness. Buy a house with it if you want. Take a vacation. No restrictions, no caveats. With cancer rates approaching 50%, it sure would be nice to temper your chemo treatment with a new Porche or a trip to Europe wouldn't it?
2.) GWL's 50-75% coverage vs. Blue Cross' top-tier 90-100% coverage is a no-brainer if you want to spend the extra (a lot) of money.
3.) They are, which is why I haven't switched. I get minimal life, dependent, ADD, and LTD. In fact, it is so minimal that I went and got extra that isn't tied to my employment. The company won't stop paying for it though, because they want the $60k they'll get if I die or am permanently disabled.
4.) Fully passed.
5.) I've heard this before. I'll have to look into it. Despite being more fiscally conservative than most other Canadians, budget is still tight.
I still don't understand this. What difference does it make? In most cases, you're getting a deal.
It's a benefit. The same way free coffee is a benefit. What you are suggesting is akin to saying that because you aren't a coffee drinker, there's something fundamentally wrong with employers providing coffee a little/no cost. Nothing is stopping you from paying for better coverage on your own the same way nothing is stopping you from going to Starbucks.
It might not matter that much to you, which is certainly fair. Tell your employer as much. I can tell you that most would relish not having to fork out as much cash as they do for their plans if they didn't have to.
I suppose you're going to tell me to get $100 worth of cell calls for $30 a month?
You've been tricked by marketing, and you're eating it up. The system doesn't have to be the way it is, and you're saying it's better this way because "you get a deal" because of the bulk-buying setup. If the practice of employers buying healthcare was outlawed, the system would change, and it wouldn't be more expensive for individuals to buy what they want/need.
> It's a benefit. The same way free coffee is a benefit.
Except that the healthcare is not free - it's coming out of your salary, and the choices are being made for you.
> It might not matter that much to you, which is certainly fair. Tell your employer as much
You miss the point. It's not about me, it's about society as a whole. From experience, I can tell you Canadians are a lot more reluctant to change employers than Australians, in part because their healthcare is tied to their employer. As a consequence, Canadian employers have a lot more power than Australian ones.
My brother had been in Canada for 6 years straight when he went back to Australia. After 1 month there I asked what was the biggest difference between Aus/Canada that he could notice. Without hesitation, he said "Employees in Australia are treated much better than Employees in Canada... nobody ever talks about healthcare in Australia, as it's a basic right of being born, and has nothing to do with your job"..
Until you've lived somewhere where unemployed (and never employed) people have the same set-up as CEOs, you won't know what we're talking about. Do yourself a favor - go and experience it.
Um, no... I've seen the actuarial tables, understand them and program systems to support them for the industry. Unless you are in exceptional health and remain so, group insurance is by far the better deal in most cases. That's why employers offer it!
Please just concede this point until you actually understand how actuarial science works. There are indeed some bad deals out there (looking at you flex plans), but group vs. individual insurance isn't one of them.
> it's coming out of your salary, and the choices are being made for you.
No, not really. This may be true of your specific plan but many plans are 100% employer paid. Employers offer benefit plans in lieu of salary because there are different tax breaks and such associated with not paying salary directly - ei and cpp contributions, for instance. If an employer pays you $300 a month in benefits it does NOT mean that they could pay you $300 more in salary and it would be a wash.
>"Employees in Australia are treated much better than Employees in Canada.
That may be, and I'm sure it varies greatly by industry and other variables... but that isn't at all what we are discussing here, is it?
Here's how it works in Canada: if you are looking to move to a different employer, you weigh up the perks of one job versus the cash of the other (perk-less) job.
Here's how it works in the USA: if you are looking to move to a different employer, compare the health care first, then start worrying about salary and perks.
The corporations in Canada don't offer you anything that you can't get yourself, the healthcare isn't more expensive than the rest of the world for no good reason (looking at you, USA), and the only difference comes down to whether you end up with 10 years of history with one health insurer or not.
In Australia, that doesn't happen.
