Asked by bill

Patrick and Susie just welcomed a set of twins to their family and have to decide how to purchase health insurance for the babies. Patrick’s employer pays for 100% of his monthly health insurance premium of $378, but will not pay for any of the $280 for each additional beneficiary. Susie’s employer, who pays 63% of her $403 monthly premium, offers to pay 32% of the $310 monthly premium for each additional beneficiary. Which would be the most economical way to purchase health insurance for the family?

Patrick's Employer
Beneficiary
Monthly Premium
Employer Contribution
Patrick
$378
100%
Additional (each)
$280
0%

Susie's Employer
Beneficiary
Monthly Premium
Employer Contribution
Susie
$403
63%
Additional (each)
$310
32%

a.
Insure the entire family (Patrick, Susie, and the twins) with Patrick’s employer.
b.
Insure the entire family (Patrick, Susie, and the twins) with Susie’s employer.
c.
Insure Patrick with his employer and Susie and the twins with her employer.
d.
Insure Susie with her employer and Patrick and the twins with his insurer.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Compute the employee monthly cost for each arrangement.

Useful numbers:
- Patrick: base $378 (employee pays 0); each additional $280 (employee pays 100%).
- Susie: base $403 (employee pays 37% = 0.37×403 = $149.11); each additional $310 (employee pays 68% = 0.68×310 = $210.80).

a) Entire family on Patrick’s plan
- Additional people: Susie + 2 twins = 3 × $280 = $840
- Total monthly employee cost = $840

b) Entire family on Susie’s plan
- Susie base employee cost = $149.11
- Additional people: Patrick + 2 twins = 3 × $210.80 = $632.40
- Total = $149.11 + $632.40 = $781.51

c) Patrick on his plan; Susie + twins on hers
- Patrick’s cost = $0
- Susie base = $149.11
- Twins as additionals = 2 × $210.80 = $421.60
- Total = $149.11 + $421.60 = $570.71

d) Susie on her plan; Patrick + twins on his
- Patrick’s plan additionals (Susie + 2 twins) = 3 × $280 = $840
- Susie’s base = $149.11
- Total = $840 + $149.11 = $989.11

Most economical: option c — insure Patrick with his employer and Susie and the twins with Susie’s employer (monthly cost ≈ $570.71).