We recently posted about the decision by Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen & Sanders ("ATMS") to make Associates pay 50% of their individual health insurance costs [% of dependent cost unclear] (link here). Some commentators seemed to think ATMS arrangement wasn't so bad, others thought it was oppressive.So we turn to you loyal readers and ask:
Does your firm provide health insurance? If so, how much do you kick in a month for yourself? and for dependents?
Please post the details of your firms' health benefits in the comment section and let the discussion begin.
* Note: we also want to hear from support staff out there. How are your health benefits?
Update: We are in the process of emailing firms to confirm their health insurance benefits for counsel and dependents. We will keep you updated.
The plan has ATMS paying 50% for both employees and dependnts for the basic HMO plan, I am told.
ReplyDeleteLSC: http://www.lionelsawyer.com/index.cfm?page_id=36&subid=7
ReplyDeleteThanks @5:03. Lionel Sawyer's website says they offer:
ReplyDelete100% for attorneys and 50% for dependents
It is "a national medical plan through Beech Street. This plan provides employees and dependents more than 400,000 individual doctors, over 52,000 facility locations and more than 3,800 acute care hospitals. To best meet the health care needs of our employees and their dependents, this plan provides the flexibility of choosing between in-network and out-of-network health care providers . . . Lionel Sawyer & Collins employees are eligible for medical insurance benefits upon their first day of hire."
Lewis and Roca pays for the attorney's health insurance, but the attorney must pay the benefits for any family members that are covered. Its good coverage (BCBS), but its pretty pricey. $680 a month is deducted from my paycheck each month.
ReplyDeleteAttorneys pay approx. $70 per month at downtown CD Lit Firm for basic HMO. Attorney pays for their dependants, but its expensive. Cheaper to find your own on the open market. By "basic" I mean - you know there is a problem when all the attorneys in your office go to UMC Quick Care.
ReplyDeleteSantoro Driggs: 100% for attorneys and 75% for dependents...I think.
ReplyDeleteYOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG!!!!
ReplyDeletePLEASE GET THE FACTS CORRECT!!!
ATMS does NOT pay 50% for the employees and dependents.
ATMS pays 50% of the "basic plan."
The basic plan ONLY covers the employee, and it is really poor coverage.
For the coverage to be equivalent to what employees have right now, employees have to choose the "premium plan."
Because this is an upgrade from the "basic" plan, the cost must be paid SOLELY by the employee.
Also, since the employee is the ONLY one covered on the "basic" plan, if the employee wants their spouse or family on the plan, they have to pay 100% for that.
To say ATMS pays 50% is VERY VERY VERY misleading. They pay 50% of the basic plan ONLY!!!! Again, see the definition of the "basic" plan above.
In reality, if an employee wants their spouse covered at a coverage that is similar to the coverage employees have right now, the employee pays around $500. For coverage for a family, it is around $800 per month.
ATMS's contribution is 0%. Again, ATMS's contribution is ZERO percent. It's not 50%. It's not 49%. It is ZERO, as in the number before 1. As in how much appreciation ATMS shows their employees.....ZERO.
As to the Lewis and Roca commentator... you can afford $600 per month. Remember, starting attorneys at your shop make $120,000, which is $42,000 more than the punching bag attorneys.
As to the Lionel Sawyer commentator, your attorneys start at $110,000, which is $32,000 more than ATMS's.
Dare I say the name after all the comments these past few days, but Kummer Kaempfer provides great health insurance, vision, and dental through a national plan that is no hassle. Monthly premium contributions paid by the employee range between $40 for individuals and up to $250 for employee and full family coverage. The Firm also provides an excellent 401k match, as well as life insurance, and long/short term disability, among other perks. Thanks to KKBRF for putting together and always improving its benefits package year after year.
ReplyDeleteum, 9:59 PM, no one is really comparing LSC or L&R to ATMS. We're all just contributing to the collective knowledge of the legal community. I sure hope Obama fixes this health care fiasco.
ReplyDeleteUm..., 10:12 p.m, I understand that.
ReplyDeleteI'm making the point so that the ATMS partners reading these blogs don't think that because another firm is doing what they are, that it is acceptable. If L&R makes their employee/atty pick up the tab, it's a little more understandable when the attorney is making $120k out of the gate.
ATMS's new insurance deal is nonsense at best and they should be ashamed.
The support staff will be hardest hit. If a support staff employee has a family, this is literally 1/2 of their paycheck.
@ 9:59 & 10:28
ReplyDeleteAssuming you are the disgruntled "mole" working at ATMS, in order to get your facts straight you should attend the meeting scheduled next week for all employees with the insurance reps who will explain the various plans availble. The progran is called a cafeteria plan. The reps will then meet individualy with each employee and go over each plan to help you determine which one meets your personal and family needs. It will be explaned to you, ONCE AGAIN, that ATMS will pay 50% of the basic HMO plan for BOTH employees AND dependants. The cost of the increased coverage for the other plans will be the responsiblity of the employee
Great job so far everyone. Keep the information rolling in.
ReplyDeleteAs for clarification on the ATMS policy, we're looking forward to hearing the news from the ATMS insurance meeting next week.
I am support staff at boutique firm in Summerlin. They pay 50% of attorney benefits from day one, and they pay admin 50% after one year. The plan is good, I pay about $70.00 a month, but I heard if you have dependants, it goes waaaayyyy up.
ReplyDeleteAt my downtown Vegas firm, a regional office of a larger multi-state firm, for individual employees, the firm pays ~85% of the insurance policy cost - it costs employees about $45/month for a combined medical/dental/vision plan. For the employee and a spouse the firm pays ~70% and it costs ~$340/month, for an employee with a spouse and kids the firm pays ~60% and it costs ~$660/month.
ReplyDeleteThe actual plan itself is great - in-network has a minimal co-pay, if any, and out-of-network covers ~85-90% of the cost up to a relatively small annual maximum then 100% after that.
@ 9:22 Can you give us the name of the firm, please?
ReplyDeleteThe real costs are associated with covrage of dependants. I am posting some numbers of a standard plan and showing the various categories and the relative monthly cost. Other plans have different total numbers, of course, but the plans I have seen keep the general relative porportional costs between categories the same.
ReplyDeleteemployee only 231
employee + spouse 462
employee + child/children 439
employee + family 740
For clarification, when the posts read that they pay the costs for the "attorney", does that mean they only pay for the attorneys in the firm, or do they also pay for the non-attorney employees. This, of course, makes a big difference because most of the employees in a firm are non-attorneys.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 9:22a here:
ReplyDeleteTo Legal Eagle - I do not wish to disclose the firm name publicly. For size comparisons, we have about 600 employees, including partners/associates/staff scattered about our offices in various states.
To Anon @ 9:56a, re: my posting @ 9:22am disclosed the costs to 'employees' - my firm does not distinguish between costs for non-partner attorneys and non-attorneys for our health care costs.
I work for a small Nevada insurance defense firm. The firm pays the full cost of attorney and support staff health/dental/vision insurance. The plan isn't great, but I don't use it that much so it doesn't bother me (knock on wood).
ReplyDeleteSpouses and dependents are not covered and it is cheaper to find health insurance on the open market than to get it through the firm.
Anon at 9:22 mirrors my experience
ReplyDeleteSmall regional office of California firm - firm paid for attorney, and could add dep. For spouse and 2 children would have been $650 per month. You could downgrade your plan, which was pretty good, and the firm would still pay the same per month for the attorney, effectively lowering your contribution to about $400.
Small native nevada insurance defense firm - firm paid 100% for attorney and dependents. With the 401k match it bumped the magic number up 7.
Seems that KKBRF might not be paying for much soon. Good benefits but each year the premiums were increased and passed along to the employee. Strict restrictions were put on the employees when it came to using a wellness plan or the basic plan
ReplyDeleteI work at a mid-sized local firm. The firm pays only for the attorneys' benefits. If the attorney has any dependends he/she wants covered, the attorney pays the full premium amount for that. For someone with a spouse and kids, the cost runs over $500/month. From what I have seen from friends who are attorneys at both large or medium sized firms here in town, it is very common for the firm to only cover the attorney but not dependents at all.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to benefits, no firm that I know of offers more than the Henderson firm Rooker Rawlins. The firm pays 100% of the cost of health insurance premiums for the employee and his family. The firm also reimburses all out of pocket medical expenses up to 5,000 per year. These benefits apply to all attorneys and full time staff.
ReplyDeleteThey also pay for the lease of a car for all attorneys.
@ 8:18 AM:
ReplyDeleteJust WOW!
How are they doing in this economy though? Any personnel/budget cuts?
@ 8:18 am
ReplyDeleteThey also pay you the high wage of $5 an hour.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think Rooker Rawlins is doing fine. It appears they got paid millions for the RJC litigation (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/15/lawyers-may-get-millions-more-courthouse-fight/).
ReplyDeleteAfter losing the county 60 plus million on the RJC litigation - I would think that Rooker may be needing to find new clients.
ReplyDeleteHenderson Construction Law Firm with the initials P.B. pays 100% of employee benefits, 0% of spouse/family.
ReplyDeleteHenderson Litigation firm paid 100% of benefits for family and employee, just ended. Now pay 0%.
ReplyDeletefor Anonymous posters, WWL is preparing a spreadsheet with all the information we've collected on benefits.
ReplyDeletePlease email me with information about your firm and the name of your firm at:
nevadalegal@gmail.com
Thanks for sharing.............
ReplyDelete___________________
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