Benefits at Charleston county EMS

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emtflight

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Hi there ,

I'm new to the forum and got on here to find a wealth of info !
I saw some posts from medicnextdoor about his recent experience with Charleston county EMS. I am in So. Cal. and am looking to relocate. I spent one year in San Antonio Texas but had to return here due to severe family issues. I have apps out in Texas (other areas) but am also considering SC.

I've read good things recently about this service but am curious about the health benefits out of pocket costs for a family of 4 ? Anyone know about this ? Right now I'm paying out $800 per month and since I don'take much here it's basically eating up my wages.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks !
 
emtflight said:
Hi there ,

I'm new to the forum and got on here to find a wealth of info !
I saw some posts from medicnextdoor about his recent experience with Charleston county EMS. I am in So. Cal. and am looking to relocate. I spent one year in San Antonio Texas but had to return here due to severe family issues. I have apps out in Texas (other areas) but am also considering SC.

I've read good things recently about this service but am curious about the health benefits out of pocket costs for a family of 4 ? Anyone know about this ? Right now I'm paying out $800 per month and since I don'take much here it's basically eating up my wages.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks !
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I cannot offer you any advice on the agency in question but if I were you, I would seek out a town with applications available to a municipal service.

That $800 turns into $0.
 
That isn't universally true. One of the local FDs is grossly over paid, but are also responsible for a portion of their insurance costs.
 
Aidey said:
That isn't universally true. One of the local FDs is grossly over paid, but are also responsible for a portion of their insurance costs.
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Can't win em all I suppose -_-
 
You are joking right? 25% of their staff make over 100k a year. I think it is very reasonable that they help cover their own insurance costs.
 
Aidey, I think that's completely reasonable. I don't make anywhere near that much so paying out 800 per month is insane in my opinion.
 
I'm sure we can all speculate on the cost, but your best course of action is to call the HR department where you're applying and ask questions.

"Hi. I'm very interested in applying for a paramedic position with your service, but I had a few questions first..."

Sounds totally appropriate to me. Saves you the trouble of applying if the compensation and benefits package doesn't meet your needs.
 
Aidey said:
You are joking right? 25% of their staff make over 100k a year. I think it is very reasonable that they help cover their own insurance costs.
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100k isn't much these days.

Why is it unreasonable to be paid that and have your health insurance covered?
 
NYMedic828 said:
100k isn't much these days.

Why is it unreasonable to be paid that and have your health insurance covered?
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Because the median income in the area is half that. This is not NYC where the cost of living is sky high. If you want an exorbitant wage you can expect to make a few concessions for it.
 
Aidey said:
Because the median income in the area is half that. This is not NYC where the cost of living is sky high. If you want an exorbitant wage you can expect to make a few concessions for it.
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Fair enough. I tend to forget that most people don't suffer like we do with overpriced everything over here...
 
NYMedic828 said:
Fair enough. I tend to forget that most people don't suffer like we do with overpriced everything over here...
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The Median family income in Charelston is 44k, 100k is a bit much....... Private industry jobs don't pay your insurance 100%, can't expect tax payers to pay you 100k and pay your health insurnace when 80% of them are making less, paying their own retirement, and paying their own insurance
 
emtflight said:
Hi there ,

I'm new to the forum and got on here to find a wealth of info !
I saw some posts from medicnextdoor about his recent experience with Charleston county EMS. I am in So. Cal. and am looking to relocate. I spent one year in San Antonio Texas but had to return here due to severe family issues. I have apps out in Texas (other areas) but am also considering SC.

I've read good things recently about this service but am curious about the health benefits out of pocket costs for a family of 4 ? Anyone know about this ? Right now I'm paying out $800 per month and since I don'take much here it's basically eating up my wages.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks !
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Give them a call
 
Thanks all. I recently just experienced a total let-down by current employer. I asked the HR director about the insurance costs and what I was told has turned out to be be completely different after the fact. There were no choices in what I could pay, it was just this is the premium and this is what you get. This is what prompted me to put this out there, thought maybe someone who is employed there could give me current info. on it.
 
emtflight said:
Thanks all. I recently just experienced a total let-down by current employer. I asked the HR director about the insurance costs and what I was told has turned out to be be completely different after the fact. There were no choices in what I could pay, it was just this is the premium and this is what you get. This is what prompted me to put this out there, thought maybe someone who is employed there could give me current info. on it.
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I do believe they do the state insurance, so maybe you could look at some of the other threads about SC and ask some of the people who work in different Counties about it. I may be wrong but I think all the counties are in the same insurance pool
 
Sorry this took so long. I don't read this as often as I should.

Current, the family plan is about $163.33 every paycheck (I had to find one to see what it was). that is BCBS standard. There is a cheaper one but nobody gets that.

We also have dental ($10.67 per paycheck), vision ($12.12) and Dental Plus (I don't know that cost). The county is pretty good keeping up with that and they pay more than 1/2 of the cost (it actually is WAY more than the cost above but because they pay a big amount, that is all you pay as an employee).

I hpe that helps.
 
emtflight said:
Yes thanks so much ! This is VERY helpful.
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Not a problem. They also have hired 16 folks they call "relief factor" so we are all getting time off when we request it. there was a problem with forced overtime about four years ago but they listened and now it's not a problem anymore.
 
Other benefiets

I understand that when your hired into Charleston County EMS. Your given p25 radio, full uniforms, and boots. Is this true and what else are you issued?
 
@ the OP, have you ever considered the National Guard? Tricare Reserve Select is decent enough and you get a lot of extra benefits- school waivers, GI Bill, cheap health care, excitement...I'm actually quite happy with 1 weekend a month/2 weeks a year.

Health-wise, Paramedics Plus uses Cigna- mediocre coverage at an unpleasantly high price. As a counter, I opt-out and use Tricare instead.
 
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I've have looked into working in Charleston and according to there website they pay paramedics $38,000-$58,000 a year. Where are they passing over $100K?
 
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