health care stipend

[jessklambert]

New mom seeking nanny for infant care. Would appreciate input on providing nanny with a monthly health care stipend to use toward insurance.
This topic has been addressed by some of the nannies we have interviewed, but not all.
Is it commonly expected that employers will provide this? If so, what is a typical stipend ($)?
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

It's not common, but not totally unusual either. Some people wait and add this as a benefit the second year of employment.

We pay our nanny's health insurance, but we were also able to find a reasonably-priced policy. For her first year with us, we were willing to contribute $200/mo for insurance. She found a policy for $210, so we agreed to pay all of it. Since then, we've switched to using SHOP (the small business exchange), and we pay more, but the insurance was much better (this was an increased benefit in later years of employment).

Health insurance on the exchanges is priced by age, so whatever stipend you give will not go as far for an older nanny.

I suggest you think seriously about this, and if you can't afford it easily, even consider offering the nanny a choice of a higher wage/no insurance (some nannies will already be covered through a spouse or parent) or lower starting wage/you pay all insurance (you won't be able to cover all the cost this way, but you might be able to increase the stipend to cover a decent policy). If you know your nanny has health insurance, it is much easier to know what to do if she becomes ill.

[Anonymous]

We offered this after one year. It was a bit more than I expected, around $350 a month. You will need to figure out if you want to pay the premium or just a portion. Always pay directly to insurer. Otherwise, need to just increase pay.

[Anonymous]

We reimburse our nanny in full for her health, dental and vision insurance premiums. I wish we had never started down this road. The premiums just keep going up and I actually feel like she doesn't appreciate the dollars she saves as much as if she got them in her paycheck. It becomes expected and if you don't cover the increase, it is like taking away compensation. We'll have to cap it soon if Trumpcare causes an increase in premiums.

[Anonymous]

We offered our nanny $200/month for health care but since she got it through her husband's job, she put it in an IRA instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We reimburse our nanny in full for her health, dental and vision insurance premiums. I wish we had never started down this road. The premiums just keep going up and I actually feel like she doesn't appreciate the dollars she saves as much as if she got them in her paycheck. It becomes expected and if you don't cover the increase, it is like taking away compensation. We'll have to cap it soon if Trumpcare causes an increase in premiums.

No more Trumpcare so you don't have to cap. Does your employer cap your health insurance? Even if they do, you makes five times more than she makes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We reimburse our nanny in full for her health, dental and vision insurance premiums. I wish we had never started down this road. The premiums just keep going up and I actually feel like she doesn't appreciate the dollars she saves as much as if she got them in her paycheck. It becomes expected and if you don't cover the increase, it is like taking away compensation. We'll have to cap it soon if Trumpcare causes an increase in premiums.

No more Trumpcare so you don't have to cap. Does your employer cap your health insurance? Even if they do, you makes five times more than she makes.

Does your employer pay all your healthcare premiums? Mine doesn't. Seems like you are trying to pick a fight with the wrong person.

[Anonymous]

We pay for 2/3 the cost of an HMO. I don't care whether or not it's common for people to do - DH and I felt it was the right thing to do for someone we're employing full time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We reimburse our nanny in full for her health, dental and vision insurance premiums. I wish we had never started down this road. The premiums just keep going up and I actually feel like she doesn't appreciate the dollars she saves as much as if she got them in her paycheck. It becomes expected and if you don't cover the increase, it is like taking away compensation. We'll have to cap it soon if Trumpcare causes an increase in premiums.

No more Trumpcare so you don't have to cap. Does your employer cap your health insurance? Even if they do, you makes five times more than she makes.

Does your employer pay all your healthcare premiums? Mine doesn't. Seems like you are trying to pick a fight with the wrong person.

Yes, they are paid in full by employer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We reimburse our nanny in full for her health, dental and vision insurance premiums. I wish we had never started down this road. The premiums just keep going up and I actually feel like she doesn't appreciate the dollars she saves as much as if she got them in her paycheck. It becomes expected and if you don't cover the increase, it is like taking away compensation. We'll have to cap it soon if Trumpcare causes an increase in premiums.

No more Trumpcare so you don't have to cap. Does your employer cap your health insurance? Even if they do, you makes five times more than she makes.

Does your employer pay all your healthcare premiums? Mine doesn't. Seems like you are trying to pick a fight with the wrong person.

Yes, they are paid in full by employer.

Medical, dental and vision? Wow, no wonder you are worried. This might be your MB!

[Anonymous]

I'm in a nanny share, and both families split the cost of health insurance. She picks the plan (and was very conscientious about choosing a cost-effective plan). The plan she got this year was about half the price of last years.

Last year her monthly premiums were about $213/month, this year they are about half that ($105).

The other family and I just give her a check at the beginning of the year to cover her premiums, because it's easier than remembering to pay for it every month (because we are not using SHOP - doesn't work so well with nanny share, but the downside is we don't get a tax deduction).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay for 2/3 the cost of an HMO. I don't care whether or not it's common for people to do - DH and I felt it was the right thing to do for someone we're employing full time.

Good for you! I know too many who think the ACA is the best thing since sliced bread as long as they don't have to help their nanny pay for it. Cognitive dissidence.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's common necessarily, nor it is expected or needed by all applicants.

We have had 3 nannies, only one of whom did not have health care when we hired her. We helped her select a healthcare plan and set it up, and made a partial payment of that part of a raise package we gave her. In the second year we took over full payment of the stipend.

The other two nannies already had healthcare when we hired them (through family) so it wasn't an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay for 2/3 the cost of an HMO. I don't care whether or not it's common for people to do - DH and I felt it was the right thing to do for someone we're employing full time.

Good for you! I know too many who think the ACA is the best thing since sliced bread as long as they don't have to help their nanny pay for it. Cognitive dissidence.

Cognitive dissonance.