Supplemental health coverage/worth the price?

[FrugalIII]

My employer is now offering supplemental health insurance (AFLAC) to us, of course at our cost. Is it really worth the cost or is it another insurance gimmick to get your money? I have to decide yes or no in a couple of days and I'm really sceptical of insurance.

[disneysteve]

What does it cover that your existing plan does not?

[Like2Plan]

In order to evaluate, you are going to have to ask yourself some questions.

Do you need it:
1. What kind and how much coverage does it provide? (Is it like a disability ins?)
2. What conditions must be met in order to receive a benefit (is there a waiting period?)
3. Do you already have ins that will do the same thing?
What is the cost:
4. How much will it cost?
5. Are you getting any kind of a price break? --is the employer kicking in anything or as a group do you get a discount?
6. Can you price out a similar product on your own and compare?

Finally,
7. Is it portable? Can you convert it to an individual policy if you leave the company?
8. How much to convert?

[kobe008]

I have aflac and have the accident plan (have 2 young boys) and the ICU plan. Both my boys were born premature and we did not have Aflac with the first. I got the ICU plan before the 2nd was born and he was in ICU for almost 2 weeks and Aflac gave me a check for $13,000 and I didnt have to pay taxes or anything on it. I figured if we had that plan when the first son was born we would of gotten around $25,000 cause he was in ICU longer. Will keep that plan til we are done having kids. We've used the accident plan several times for sports related injuries and bumps and bruises the kids have gotten. Even used it once when one of the kids stuck popcorn kernels in his ears and I took him to the ER to have them taken out.

[disneysteve]

kobe - Doesn't your health insurance cover those things?

[kobe008]

Yes my health coverage covered quite a bit of it. My family out of pocket expense is a little over 3k per year so thats all we paid for each of our kids. The Aflac money is just extra money we get and we can do what we want with it. We used some of it to pay off our vehicle leaving us with no more vehicle payments. The rest went into savings and is there in case we need it.