I just checked H’s plan. For family plan with $500 deductible, employee contribution is $2000/month. For the $1000 deductible, it is $1750/month. There isn’t an HSA option. A teacher with a PhD and 30 years makes $66K. And our district pays more than the surrounding ones
H’s school is losing roughly 50% of their staff this year. Only 1 retirement that I know of. Usually (for the past 5-10 years), they lose 25% of their staff. We are a small school district and last I heard, there were over 100 positions already open for next year. And forget about subs. They can’t find them. I think H’s school gave up trying this year and would just use the specials teachers to fill in.
It is not a normal “free market” when the chooser (physician), user (patient), and payer (insurance company and/or patient) are not all the same well informed buyer making an optional purchasing decision.
You can’t get to the actual scenarios unless you buy checkbook, but if you go to frequently asked questions, you will see one (9th if I counted correctly) about getting Medicare part B and keeping FEHB. It implies there are some cases where NOT getting part B should be fine.
No, but what people on these forums consider to be “high” or “low” pay seems to depend on whether they are writing about someone else’s pay or their own. $50k or even $100k seems to be “high” pay for someone else, but $200k seems to be “barely middle class” pay for themselves.
That’s bcos people choose not to be informed. They could ask their doctor if an over-the-counter or generic would work.
As noted earlier, some just prefer to schlep to the local pharmacy (Walgreens, CVS, Joe’s Drug & Dime) and pay whatever they are charged. Costco can be a lot cheaper. Mail order has been around for decades and for folks on maintenance meds, it can save a ton. Yet, the masses eschew it, to pay (more?) at the local Rx.
Canada is also a legal source for meds and paying CA ‘sticker’ can be less than a prescription plan’s deductible. Again, great for maintenance meds, but only a few go that route. (I use CA for script for ~$135, that is 5x that price in the US.)
Here is a screen shot of some of the teacher salaries in our hometown in PA. They are required to publicly post the salaries; I scratched out the names. The lowest salary in the district was $50,390. The principals make around $200k.
Two of my siblings do the same kind of work. The one who worked for local and county governments gets a great pension. The one in the private sector has no pension but her yearly compensation was much higher. The sibling who worked for the government always said the benefits and pensions helped the county retain high quality staff that would be lost to the private sector. Obviously antidotal evidence but that is what they spoke of.
I know several people who buy their Rx online from a mail order pharmacy in India and have been doing so for over a decade at substantial savings over US prices.
Out of curiosity, I bought some Rx (placed one order) myself. The process went pretty smoothly and the Rx worked just like the ones I had purchased in the US. I got a different dose than ordered so they made it right by telling me to keep the wrong dose (which can be halved and still taken) and they sent a 2nd package with correct dose and apologies.
No prescription is required and the people I know who have been getting their meds from overseas are very pleased with the quality and service at this company. Of course, newer meds are not available but many of the others are. If it’s seized by customs, the company will re-send. Most buy up to a 3-6 month supply at a time and allow a month or so for delivery.
Context is important. Which you have ignored to make one of your tried and true posts here. Someone making $50,000 at 22 is very much different than someone making that income as their kids approach or are in college. And if you are making $50,000 to start as a teacher (at least around here and many district I know – as has been noted by me and others here, teacher comp varies greatly by state and district), I would say you are making more like $70-75,000 in a private sector job. You aren’t saving for retirement (thats about 10-15% of pay). You also are paying a much smaller portion of the cost of your healthcare than someone in the private sector (who is likely to be paying more for a plan that covers less). You also have summers off meaning you have much more free time (that can be valued as well) or you could get a job in the summer. Districts also pay additional if you coach a sports team, run a school club, tutor, etc. More income. And you get 3 weeks vacation (during the shorted work year) but most people have 2.
Two people working that job would be making $140-150k/year at 22. With no kids. Very much different than the person with kids at or near college age.
And of course people view income/wealth relative to themselves. So someone without a job, someone making $10/hr is rich. To someone making $50,000, someone making $100,000 is rich. Generally speaking, rich is someone making more or worth more than you. Not unique to this place.
I work in the public schools in the tri-state area (NY-NJ-Ct). I am not a classroom teacher but I am on the teacher’s contract. Our teachers (and myself) max out at $112,000 a year after working for about 25 years with a masters degree. Those who only have a BA max out at $77,000 (NY requires a masters, other states do not). I have witnessed schools pushing experienced (and excellent) teachers out once they reach $90,000. The NYC DOE goes up to about $130,000 after 30 or so years of service. You need an advanced degree plus additional courses to get to that salary. The NYC DOE does have additional routes to increase your salary (summer work for special education etc). I have never met a teacher making the salaries reported here.
Teaching is grueling work. On any given day we/they deal with extremely difficult parents and students, accusatory emails etc. There is also a ridiculous amount of work outside of the normal school day. Teachers put in 10 hour days plus weekends. It has become a 24/7 career. This is also a career with no flexibility- you must eat lunch at 10:36, etc. I am not ungrateful- just honest and realistic.
We have been open all year- full time with lunch, which was very scary prior to vaccines. Last spring when we were remote I worked 10+ hour days.
This line of work is not for everybody. Yes it can be very rewarding, but the stress can be unbearable. I really do enjoy my job btw!!
I retired after 40 years of teaching. I look at my career as a tortoise/hare thing:
During the boom times of the 80’s, I know of friends and acquaintances who made lots more than I did as a yearly salary. But these folks also suffered through layoffs, some for months, between jobs, only to eventually move on to another lucrative job.
Now, as asomeone with a science degree, I probably could have made a lot more money in the private sector, as the aforementioned people did. BUT–I was continuously employed for 40 straight years. My counterparts in the private sector had to dip into savings to get by between jobs.
So there’s that.
Also, as @twogirls mentioned, few understand how grueling teaching can be. You not only can be assigned lunch at 10:36, but you have 25 minutes to get it (or heat it up) and wolf it down. My doctor wanted me to exercise more. He didn’t understand that I could not just leave school during a prep period and go to a gym, or walk for an hour at lunch!!
ALSO— Teachers in NY and MA make considerably more than those in the south, for example, but living in NY or MA is much more expensive than living in the south.
We watch the HGTV programs on house renovations and cannot believe what you can buy in other parts of the country. What we paid for our 1800 sf house in MA could buy a mansion in Waco!
I am represented by a private sector union. We still have our pension, the company is very stable, and the pension is well funded. But unions only have two priorities, as I’ve seen. More power for themselves, and increasing workers pay and benefits. Private sector unions have to keep the companies interests in mind, because if the company goes down, they all go down together. Public sector unions, no. They can keep demanding more and more, with no end, and no eye to keep their company afloat. There’s a reason why some cities are going bankrupt, and inflated salary/benefits and pensions are a big part of it.
