Question for Americans re: Health Insurance

[DC Al Fine]

I'm starting a new job in January. In my offer letter it said I had to pay half my health insurance premiums. In my old job, the company paid all of my premiums. This isn't that big a deal since I'm in Canada and company health insurance only covers dental, vision etc.  The extra cost to me is only about $50/mth, which didn't affect my decision to accept the offer.

This got me thinking... Health insurance is a much larger part of Americans' compensation package than it is for other people. The size of your premiums, co pays and deductibles can have a huge affect on your net compensation. In both of my "adult" jobs that I've held, health insurance wasn't discussed at all until I got the offer, unlike salary.

Going through the hiring process in America, when is health insurance discussed? Do companies advertise that they have a good plan in their job postings?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

A couple places I interviewed at gave me a benefits summary pamphlet just for interviewing.

[Miles]

For the federal government, they gave me information about it at orientation (after I accepted the job). I'm staying on my parent's plan, so I really didn't pay as much attention to it as I otherwise would have.

[memphis]

A lot of places do advertise their health plans, though employees are often given more than one option to choose from, with better plans costing more out of pocket. You only get to choose once each year, so it's a very big decision.

[MaxQue]

I'm starting a new job in January. In my offer letter it said I had to pay half my health insurance premiums. In my old job, the company paid all of my premiums. This isn't that big a deal since I'm in Canada and company health insurance only covers dental, vision etc.  The extra cost to me is only about $50/mth, which didn't affect my decision to accept the offer.

This got me thinking... Health insurance is a much larger part of Americans' compensation package than it is for other people. The size of your premiums, co pays and deductibles can have a huge affect on your net compensation. In both of my "adult" jobs that I've held, health insurance wasn't discussed at all until I got the offer, unlike salary.

Going through the hiring process in America, when is health insurance discussed? Do companies advertise that they have a good plan in their job postings?

That's generous. Here, in Quebec, in my previous job, the only mention of it was than you had to work for 12 months before being eligible.

Finally, I didn't stayed there a month, since my productivity wasn't good enough for them. Through, the real job wasn't looking at all like the job offering. It was for a chemist/lab technician, but it was more of a physical and menial bad job, in a terrible work atmosphere and leadership with no leadership abitilies.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Companies will often mention that they offer health plans, 401(k) matching, and other such company-wide benefits when advertising the job opening to increase applicant interest. Specifics of the plans are typically part of the compensation discussion, whenever that occurs. Full information is typically written out in the formal job offer.

[Adam Griffin]

Just noting: the sheer costs of health insurance very well may make it the single-biggest "benefit" employers provide. Employers end up paying anywhere from 80-95% of premiums on average; we're talking $10k easily on an annual basis in a lot of cases.

[memphis]

Just noting: the sheer costs of health insurance very well may make it the single-biggest "benefit" employers provide. Employers end up paying anywhere from 80-95% of premiums on average; we're talking $10k easily on an annual basis in a lot of cases.

^^^^^^^^
It's an enormous burden on American businesses. But it's not a tax, so nobody even thinks of it that way.