What's the health care like in Oregon (Portland, Eugene: hotel, home)

[PNW-type-gal]

$700 for a young family is on the high side - but not by much - for private insurance, like a BCBS or UHC. Many of the plans quote rates for single, couple and then "family" which is defined as a couple with children. The higher premium amts are generally for older people (like me) on the ACA. My coverage for a Silver plan is $1214 - but if I lived in Portland and was 30, it would be $458. The other group that gets hit hard are people in their 50s still buying healthcare for the college-age kids.

Moving qualifies as a "life changing event" so the OP could always go up on the Oregon Healthcare website and check rates, although for a part-year plan you could probably go for a short-term policy until enrollment time (end of November). I realize the OP is looking for an employer that subsidizes more of the family plan.

[Nell Plotts]

I looked at the OPM (Federal) health care website and choose Kaiser High Option. It is $530/mo for family coverage in the Portland metro area. That doesn't include dental. With a little effort, applicants can find employee contributions for things like health insurance by every public employer.

Keep in mind the fact that an applicant should always consider the net income so for a specific skill set the Feds may pay less than another large employer but charge more for family health insurance.

[Nell Plotts]

OP, if you like Missippi your husband should look for a job with better benefits.

Moving to Oregon will be a HUGE cultural change.

[CaliforniaPlaya]

Originally Posted by rosepetal720

Technically, my husband's work has that option, but it's $700 per family each month. We can't afford that! Is $700 somewhere in the realm of what you mean? It sounds unbearably high to me.

It really varies by employer, field of employment, and probably even area or state.
I'm in California, but just as an example, I pay $180/mo for medical, dental, and vision insurance for my family and I with 0 deductable. Of course would be easy to say that helps off-set the high cost of almost everything else here. That is true, but there are many others here that pay a lot more for insurance also.

[Hockeygirl063]

We have Kaiser Insurance and absolutely love it. At one time there services were not as good and I heard lots of bad press about them. My husbands company offered Kaiser or PPO thorough some other provider (not Providence) but can't remember. During open enrollment we changed to Kaiser and have been with them since. (more than 12 years now).

I am not sure what we pay each month. But doctor visits are $10 co-pay except our daughter is zero for all well visits and Urgent Care. Prescriptions are $10. I had to go to the ER recently and total we had to pay was $35.

i am starting a new job and the cost for insurance is pretty high but i am opting out because we do not need double coverage.

[StealthRabbit]

Do check https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org if you have a chance to work in income tax free WA.

I just ran the numbers for a friend.. staying below $65k... = $3.31 / month for a bronze plan with HSA (nice benefit).

[Cinema Cat]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaPlaya

I'm in California, but just as an example, I pay $180/mo for medical, dental, and vision insurance for my family and I with 0 deductable.

Huh? How did you manage that? Employer coverage?

I'm self-employed. No employer coverage.

I live in California. I have Blue Shield. I pay over $1,200 a month just for myself, no family. No dental or vision. And there are deductibles.

[olderandwiser456]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Kaiser has two hospitals in Portland, one in Hillsboro and another in the Sunnyside neighborhood (far SE), they have clinics all over the area. When my kids were young they were fantastic, their urgent care hours meet the need of a working mother. Now my husband loves their Medicare Advantage program. The only reason why I am not a subscriber at the moment is that I wanted to use a specific physician at OHSU for surgery. Keep in mind the fact that Kaiser is science based care, if you want cosmetic surgery just to improve your silhouette that will be a hard sell.

Kaiser also offers dental but you must sign up for that when you first select their health care to prevent adverse selection. They took care of my kid's wisdom teeth removal when they were in college. Kaiser operated dental clinics are ONLY available in Portland metro.

So, KP is an HMO and subscribers can only use those 2 hospitals (Sunnyside or Hillsboro)? I see that there are many clinics in Portland and the surrounding area, but am surprised to see only 2 hospitals that are located outside of the city. None in the city, is this correct?

Has anyone on this forum used either hospital? What was your experience?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by olderandwiser456

So, KP is an HMO and subscribers can only use those 2 hospitals (Sunnyside or Hillsboro)? I see that there are many clinics in Portland and the surrounding area, but am surprised to see only 2 hospitals that are located outside of the city. None in the city, is this correct?

Has anyone on this forum used either hospital? What was your experience?

Well, if you need to go to the ER you can use your Kaiser card at any ER. You just have to get Kaiser authorization for stay longer than 24 hours is the policy I think. But for general scheduled hospital visits yes, if you have Kaiser insurance you go to either the eastside or westside Kaiser hospital. The Portland metro area isn't THAT large. It isn't Houston or LA. It isn't that far to get to one of the Kaiser hospitals if you live in the metro area. Central Portland is already pretty jam packed with big hospitals. There's already OHSU, Emanuel, Good Samaritan, Providence, Randall Children's, and Doernbecher Children's which are all very large inner-city hospitals. Probably wouldn't have made sense for Kaiser to build there anyway.

I've been to the eastside Kaiser hospital in Sunnyside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser...Medical_Center It's a good general hospital. They don't do super specialty things like heart transplants. But for ordinary care it is fine. They are known for cardiac care, cancer care, and their stroke unit.

[Nell Plotts]

DH had surgery at Sunnyside, I was impressed with the care. They wanted him to spend an extra day but DH declined. After falling trying to care for him at home the days after I told him that if he did that again I would get a hotel room and he could manage by himself.

Kaiser does use other hospitals as their resources dictate.

The hospital acquired infection rate at Sunnyside is very low, some of that may be the result of few admissions of patents off the street, so to speak.

Kaiser has clinics throughout the greater metro area.

In the greater metro area, emergency arrivals by ambulance are managed by a central system that monitors patient load, presumptive care need, and specialist availability.