Health Insurance

monthly health insurance was very expensive

Great options. Range of prices and coverage so you choose what works for you.

decent providers that are local to me

Health Insurance at IBM was completely paid off by the company for single employees.

Several choices to select from. Lot of assistive tools to help decide and choose the right one.

Health Insurance , 401 K & vacations

Good health insurance, but expensive!

There is a deductible free plan for employees

Was very dissapointed when retiree health insurance was withdrawn.

Not good at all. Be WARNED read the fine print before you take an insurance policy with IBM. The policies look good on paper but then you have to use them. IBM offers a "free" policy with an HSA which IBM even puts money in. However, The deductible is $2,700 so that HSA will dry up quickly. Most of mine went away in one visit to a foot specialist. The following year I got IBM's EPO plan which their most expensive. It has almost no out of network options but that's okay I live in a big city. Well even in an in network hospital my recent ER trip cost me $360 in copay. Even the lady who did financing told me most employer plans typically make the customer pay $75 for an ER visit. In fact, my previous employer had a flat $75 co-pay . Also that ER visit co-pay doesn't include the urine and blood work. I'm expecting $600-$800 for a two hour visit. With my previous employer I had an outpatient surgery and it cost me $100 -$200. Aetna(My provider in Texas, IBM has different providers in different states) doesn't really tell you if blood work or other tests are covered in the benefits information. Furthermore I needed medicine that is considered "special drugs" by CVS Caremark. CVS Caremark would initially not honor my Walgreens prescription. I had to call them to get special permission so I didn't need to use mail order from CVS specialty pharmacy for drugs that could easily be gotten from any old pharmacy. Those drugs cost me $220 after insurance. So I am looking at $800 - $1,100 for a two hour ER visit. I previously paid a $160 co-pay for an allergy test. I pay $150 every month for insurance that for the most part is pretty mediocre and I am being kind. I fear needing another ER because my insurance certainly is not good enough to cover the enormous co-pays. You think IBM would be better but they are actually worse than other IT/tech companies when it comes to insurance. I am considering the individual marketplace and see if I could find better or cheaper insurance than what IBM offers.