That scar on my neck? That was a completely unexpected left carotid endarterectomy that ended my school year early some seven years ago. I’m fine now, but that was one wild raft ride through the rapids, complete with a visit to the ICU. You never know… No matter how healthy you seem or how careful you are, reality can bite at unexpected moments — even on a completely peaceful Sunday morning while composing review questions for final exams.
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Sticking to my thread from the last post: What is coming at you, teacher? As I read my social media feeds, I find a number of teachers on the fence about retiring or quitting. To go or not to go? “I love my job but…” their posts say. Should I risk it?
I fully understand. Teaching is not a job as much as a calling. That classroom beckons, a huge annual adventure filled with exciting new faces. Walls are being decorated with posters and favorite internet memes even now by eager teachers, hoping for in-class instruction and determined to be ready for the upcoming year.
If you are on the fence about returning this year, though, I want to help. I’m off the fence myself. I’m retired, but if I still had my girls at home, I know I would home school this year. I’m in Cook County, Illinois, however, not far from Chicago. I would feel differently if I lived in a quiet county in Alaska or North Dakota.
Here’s a consideration I’d put in my t-chart if I were deciding whether or not to go back: What is my insurance situation? If you teach, you almost undoubtedly have health insurance. How good is that insurance? If you leave, how will you replace your insurance? Can you use a spouse’s policy? You can COBRA, but COBRA’s price often shocks people. You end up paying for the part your district covered previously. That relatively painless policy may suddenly cost over four figures each month.
One of the perks of teaching used to be superior health care policies. Like government workers, teachers often received top-quality insurance with low deductibles and extensive coverage, low or no co-pay, drug plans that covered almost everything, plus dental insurance and help with glasses. Those policies helped make up for the low salaries starting teachers received.
But that was then. This is now. A few districts still have great insurance. Many others have pretty good insurance with higher deductibles and stiffer copays. Some have mediocre insurance with limited networks and less-favorable coverage. A few are running self-insured or are offering catastrophic plans with those $1,000 deductibles. You may have a choice between a PPO and an HMO. Multitudinous options exist — the good, the bad, the ugly and even the abominable.
And unusual drugs drain the bank fast. Even”usual” drugs can be a strain. Epi-pens currently cost over $600. Insulin — my friend’s daughter makes trips to Canada because that’s the only way she can afford a drug she requires to survive. (One tip: Don’t take a new drug home until you know the cost. Pharmacies may not let you return a drug once it leaves the premises. Sometimes your doctor.can prescribe a more affordable alternative.)
This post is about numbers, nebulous numbers, but numbers that should still be part of any decision-making process. What happens if you actually get sick? Your odds on getting well remain strong — and those odds are improving as doctors get COVID experience — but the process seems to be taking weeks or even months for many people. What drugs will be prescribed? What medical care will you need?
How does your medical plan work? Here’s a sample from the Affordable Care Act plans.
“Health plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplace are divided into four categories:
- Bronze – Plan pays 60% of your health care costs. You pay 40%.
- Silver – Plan pays 70% of your health care costs. You pay 30%.
- Gold – Plan pays 80% of your health care costs. You pay 20%.
- Platinum – Plan pays 90% of your health care costs. You pay 10%.”
Reader, let me throw in one quick math fact: 30% of $40,000 is $12,000. An overnight stay at a hospital can easily run over $40,000.
So how good is your district’s insurance? How good is your health network? Should you make changes during an upcoming open enrollment period? I moved from a PPO to an HMO some years ago due to PPO costs. The HMO has worked well enough. My primary care physician is caring and helpful. My access to specialists is adequate and often much better than adequate. I am lucky enough to live in a state with seven medical schools, most of them near me. The HMO covers pretty much everything except for co-pays.
If you consider changing plans, do your research. Are HMO customers happy? Why or why not? What doctors are available to you? Go to your calculator app and run some numbers as part of the process. What percentage of your care do you currently cover? How much does that amount to in different scenarios? You have to look carefully at your policy. What about mental health care and rehab expenses? Policies are filled with limits, a few that benefit you and others that do not.
Eduhonesty: Now I have to pass this question on to readers. How will you manage insurance if you quit your position? Can you use spousal insurance? If you are just out of school, could your parent(s) pick you up? Do you want to stay where you are? Do you want to change insurance?
You definitely should have insurance right now. You may or may not want to be in a classroom. Here’s one wild card in the deck: As people quit, vacancies will open up. Do you want to try to switch to the better-funded district this year? The district with excellent insurance and an actual budget for supplies? The district that may actually be able to implement most of the CDC guidelines because that district has enough money to do so?
I recognize this post has not provided the Great Solution to any problem. I’ve raised more issues than I’ve solved. News articles seem to be outlining risks right now and emphasizing the possible dangers of going into the classroom. On the backside of those stories will be the teachers and students who do get ill. Many teachers will become ill if we reopen without regard to local conditions. We are in the middle of July with the coronavirus nowhere near under control. .
So today’s advice: Look at your insurance plan. Can you do better? How could you do better? How should you factor this into your possible plan to quit or retire? Health trumps finances obviously, but any plan you make demands some type of health coverage.
Hugs to my readers.
P.S. I’ll throw in one more item for your t-chart: What does your district plan to do if you have to quarantine during the year?
Some districts are expecting teachers to use sick days if they have to quarantine for COVID. You will use your sick days whether you are sick or not. That’s appalling. It may potentially be a much bigger loss than some teachers understand yet, especially if teachers are home for multiple periods of quarantine. My retirement check was boosted by my unused sick days. In Illinois and other places, if you don’t use those sick days, they add on to the total days used to calculate your pension. Every month I am rewarded for the fact I almost never stayed out sick.
As far as that quarantine sick leave question: This issue’s worth marching for, even worth a strike. A sick-leave for quarantine policy has the potential to chop hundreds of dollars a month off pensions down the line for unlucky teachers in the wrong areas who end up going in and out of virtual learning while quarantined. I would hope districts would leave sick leave alone and simply shift to virtual learning — but I would never leave that up to the benevolence of the district.
Even if pension issues don’t exist, emergencies happen and you may need that accumulated sick leave later. If that left carotid endarterectomy had occurred in the middle of the school year, instead of right before finals, my unused sick leave days at retirement would have been badly depleted. You may or may not find those days useful for retirement purposes.
You definitely want them for the morning when you suddenly develop double vision and end up in the hospital for a week, surrounded by kindly doctors giving you all sorts of bewildering advice that ends in major surgery. When the vascular surgeon wires you up like some modern version of Elsa Lanchester in The Bride of Frankenstein Returns because he is about to shut off a major source of blood flow to your brain, you want the best health care coverage possible.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” (John Lennon, Allen Saunders and others.)
Fight for that sick leave.
P.P.S. Useful comment from a friend: Check out AFLAC, which provides a cash benefit directly to the insured, money for expenses not covered by your health insurance.