How important are benefits to you? Is it really important to you that at least one person in your family has benefits?

ETA: I should clarify. By benefits I don't mean health insurance. I mean the extra benefits like vision, dental, and prescription.

We've only had benefits in the last 2 years (through Dh's school) and I never want to go back!

Ds has some special needs, I am on an expensive prescription, two out of 4 of us wear glasses, Dh has asthma. They keep a running total. This year we have been covered for $956 and last year $1272! That's a huge deal to our monthly budget. We only have one year left and then it's good-bye benefits. It's really made me realize just how much I like having them!

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They are absoulty important to us! I wear glasses/contacts, DH has glasses for night vision. DS has "soft" teeth, and they used to cover my BC when I was on it.

We went through a 6 week period with no benefits or insurance at all (DH had just changed jobs and we didn't sign up for COBRA, so we had a wait period), I was convinced that was when 1 of the kids would break an arm or Dh or I would get really sick. Luckily nothing happened during that time but it was the only time in my life I haven't been covered and it terrified me.

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Benefits are SOOOOO needed. DH is type I diabetic and even with the incredible insurance we have (for the birth of our first child, I will pay one $15 copay for all my prenatal appts and $0 for the birth, including pain meds and everything that could possibly go wrong) we pay $150 per month for insulin and supplies (gov't won't allow generic insulin yet...). He has a pump that was thousands of dollars that we paid $300 for.

I saw a friend our ours lose everything when he was diagnosed with cancer at 29 because of no insurance...he is so in debt, lost his house, cars and has horrible credit now. My parents have friends who's daughter was in a car accident at 25, didn't have insurance and they sold there house and 401k's to pay her bills for her. They will never be able to retire...EVER! I remember when I was getting ready to be canceled from my parents insurance, they were all over me about getting it. I just said, hey don't sell everything if I get hurt or something. They told me how selfish it was to not have it, because they would never walk away if I was hurt.

As expensive as it, it protects any assets you have, may be able to have in the future and your family's. It can save your life too.

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IT'S A BOY!!!

Benefits are HUGELY important to us. My family members have asthma, renal reflux, diabetes, hypertension, GERD, airway malformation, etc. I also have PCOS. Quite honestly, our prescriptions alone are around $3,000 a month. DH has very, very severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The prescription for that alone is $1,700 a month.

I've only been without health insurance once and of course that was when I managed to cut my finger so badly that I needed stitches.

I can't imagine not having insurance especially with me being pregnant right now. The medical bills are still adding up even with the insurance but it would be so much worse without it.

One of us will always be working somewhere that helps provide insurance for our family.

Vision is not so important to us, we actually opt out. My husband is the only one of the five that wears glasses and he only gets new one every couple years. It is cheaper to just find a coupon and buy him glasses.

I LOVE having dental insurance. It saves us a ton!

None of us are on monthly medication, and none of the kids have ever even needed antibiotics, but I do like have good prescription drug coverage for the rare prescription.

Well I Look at Cost of benefits too.


We currently Don't Have Dental or vision , but we have a Great Medical Plan that we only pay 20.00 a Week for , So I Can't Really Complain , cause when We had dental ,vision and Medical through a Different employer the Cost was close to 800.00 a month!

Also Dh Has Benefits like 100% paid for Car , Maitenence, Repair and Fuel .
Also He has a Great Cell Phone and Plan that is 100 % paid for.

So We Are in Pretty Good Shape even with my Horrible teeth. -



I Just had a 1000.00 Crown done last Week, and Now am looking at a Root Canal - on a Tooth I Had a 200.00 Filling just Put in last year.

we do have benefits as part of our medical plan thru dh's work so in our 160 a month we get medical dental vision and life insurance..

its absolutely necessary dentists can be expensive my now 7 year old had alot of dental work last year and man did that help also he had to have an extensive eye test wich medical does not cover eye problems related to vision so that was a blessing.

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I won't take another job unless it has equal benefits to what I have now, which are pretty good. Vision doesn't matter too much to me right now, but seeing as I sit in front of a computer all day (I'm a prepress technician/trained graphic designer) I need to keep my eyes in good shape. I'd be out of a career if I lost my vision.

Dental isn't that important to me except I'm going to need my wisdom teeth out soon probably.

Drug plan is important though. Right now for my BC I spend $10 every 3 months, but if I didn't have my drug plan it would cost me at least $50 every 3 months. That's a savings of $160 a year! I can't afford the actual cost of the prescription, but I absolutely cannot afford a baby right now either!

If I was American benefits would be my absolute top priority in finding a job. I can't imagine having to pay to go to the hospital!!

Extremely important to us. Benefits are THE reason DH is still at the job he's at. He has awesom dental, vision, health, prescription, and the big one: a real, actual pension. His job is decent pay for the area without the benefits, but with the benefits, his pay is fantastic!