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Post by jp_fizzer on Apr 1, 2012 15:07:07 GMT
o, this forum is great as it has answered so many of my questions, thank you to all who contribute, I have been able to find answers to most of my questions. However, I only have a few days left to make a decision on my offer and am curious about the medical/dental covee.
- My current medical covers eye exams and eyeglasses, is this also part of the 100% Aramco covered services?
- My current medical covers $1500 per person for paramedical expenses (chiropractor, physiotherapy, massage, etc.). Are these services also covered under the Aramco benefits plan? Do these services exist in Dhahran?
- I notice that it says that Dental is heavily subsidized. Currently my dental is fully covered so I understand that I will need to pay more for dental, however I cannot find any indication on how much more this is going to cost me. Does anybody have any examples of how much it costs for a standard cleaning/flouride/x-ray check-up?
- Are there Orthodontists also available in Dhahran? Is this subsidized as well? Both of my daughters require braces and I am curious if anybody has any experience with how much those are going to cost me?
thanks so much for any replies,
-jeff
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Post by David_and_Nita on Apr 8, 2012 1:07:25 GMT
Dental and vision benefits are not offered as part of the Aramco insurance plans.
Hmmmmm.......Typical cost of dental services - look at your "in-network" full billed cost on your current plan (what you and your current insurance company pay at the negotiated/discounted rate) and this is approximately what you would expect to pay out of pocket for the clinic services in the camps.
I bought braces at full uninsured cost last year in Texas. Ouch. AKA No covee for ortho services.
Vision - you're on your own for exams and glasses BUT the medical fully covers lasic (there is some tiny little minor copay) which is unusual for a medical insurance plan.
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Post by jp_fizzer on Apr 8, 2012 18:23:51 GMT
Thank you for the response ... but I was afraid of that.  So to determine how much I would be paying in Kingdom I need to look at what the insurance company pays? Yikes! I just went online to check it and it seems that the avee check-up/cleaning is around $200. Since there are 4 of us and we go for check-up/cleaning twice a year that equals $1,600 per year. In addition, my oldest daughter just had to have two baby teeth removed and that was $780 and I had a filling replaced a few months ago and that was $730. So according to my insurance company, they paid a total of over $3,000 in dental covee for me last year. Does that sound about right for in Kingdom costs? I suppose we could cut down to yearly visits instead, but it is still pretty expensive. I am definitely concerned about the braces. Neither of the girls have them yet but the dentist has warned us that once they become teenagers they will almost certainly need them. They are around $4,000 each and right now my covee would pay for them. I asked about getting the braces done now (while they are still covered) but he said since they still have some baby teeth I have to wait. :-) This is another $8,000 I have to factor into the decision. I wasn't terribly concerned about the vision covee as only my wife and one daughter need glasses. Eye exams are $100 every two years and glasses are pretty cheap online these days. That is unbelieveable that Lasic is covered. Here I have covee for eye exams and glasses but NOT laser eye surgery (which is why they continue to just get glasses every two years). However, if Lasic is covered then I guess we would just take advantage of that. Is the Lasic done there in Kingdom, or would I return to Canada for it and then submit receipts? Thanks again for the response, and if you have any other info that would be great. They gave me an extension to make my decision, but I have to give them a response by Tuesday. thank you, -jeff |
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Post by azraeil on Apr 9, 2012 4:41:28 GMT
You'd be lucky if you can get an appointment with the dental clinic here. A lot of us go to the clinic outside where your USD1600 becomes SAR1600 per year. A normal cleaning etc costs SAR200 while crowning which has a fixed rate of USD2000 (no price range) in the dental clinic in the compound costs between SAR900-2000 outside.
Now that you mentioned it, I need to make an appointment with my dentist for the kids. They work on Thursday too unlike the one in the compound.
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Post by GroveWanderer on Apr 9, 2012 7:11:47 GMT
azraeil - I've just sent you a PM. If you could respond, I'd be most grateful.
Thanks.
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Post by azraeil on Apr 10, 2012 4:47:10 GMT
GroveWonderer - didn't get any. The PM system in this board is iffy. You can send an email to azraeil dot bane at gmail dot com.
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CACA
Member
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Post by CACA on Apr 11, 2012 4:55:20 GMT
hi everyone,
I have few questions regarding the Offer that i would like to get as much information as possible before making my final decision.
1) Medical covee paid by Aramco - Does it cover international covee? For example if we visit back home (Canada) or anywhere in the world during assigned vacation period, will this covee cover the trip or do i have to pay additional covee? and how much would it be, if an additional covee is needed?
2) Are 38 vacation days (mentioned in the offer) paid holidays or not?
3) As per the offer between 9 and 11 paid holidays per year - are these holidays in addition to vacation days or all inclusive?
4) what does it mean by "moving allowance" ?
5) how much would i be paying for the eye examination ( that includes check-up,glasses etc. ) for my kids per visit? any idea.
I would appreciate if anyone can answer my questions as it's really going to help me alot.
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Post by jp_fizzer on Apr 13, 2012 6:08:56 GMT
Hi, I had many similar questions, here is what I was able to gather:
1. Yes, medical covee is worldwide, although it is not 100% paid. There is a $300/person deductible, then 80% covee up to the $2,000 max out of pocket before 100% covee.
2. Yes, 38 days are paid vacation.
3. Yes, these are additional, I think the equivalent to our stats (Canada Day, etc.)
4. If you choose to not have Aramco move you, you get $5k for employee and $2.5k per dependant.
5. Sounds like eye exams would be similar to here, $100 or so. We will probably just continue doing them here when we come back.
good luck,
-jeff
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Post by Key West on Apr 13, 2012 10:01:35 GMT
What is the policy of rolling over the unused portion of the 38 days?
Is it on a calendar year basis?
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Post by Twofeets on Apr 13, 2012 13:17:10 GMT
For US payroll you can roll over a limited number of days, but I dont have the HR manual with me to give you an exact number. I rolled over 14 days this past year, but part of that was due to my arrival time and inability to take a vacation until the very end of the year. Hopefully someone can chime in with the exact number, if not ill let ya know when I get back to the office, but that wont be till Tuesday or Wed.
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Post by vpainter on Apr 13, 2012 18:27:32 GMT
Regardless of what the manual says, some department managers I've heard do not approve roll overs. This is not company wide, but I've heard of a manager that is not allowing it.
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Post by David_and_Nita on Apr 14, 2012 1:43:22 GMT
Yes actually international travel is covered and UHC has a worldwide network of providers. Example: We had to visit a doctor in Jakarta, Indonesia and picked an in-network provider over there (for our daughter) and it was covered as if we had picked a US doctor.
The 38 days are actual vacation days and do not include paid holidays, of which there are (3-4) each EID and (2) others in addition to, not included in, your vacation allowance.
Travel days are also tacked on to your repat (2-4 depending on where you are from) so your paid vacation is actually 42 days + holidays (8-9).
Moving allowance or settling in allowance? Settling in allowance as I recall was (1) month salary paid with the first pay period after entry.
HM........eye exam? We either used US doctors (TSO) out of pocket or I recall getting some glasses (also in Jakarta) on leave one time and also paid out of pocket. <grin> 2 exams and 2 sets of glasses were, as I recall, $800 over there (but they were designer frames and we were on repat anyway and we didnt really miss the $$).
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Post by David_and_Nita on Apr 14, 2012 2:04:08 GMT
The vacation rollover policy for expats is 14 days per calendar year without question and additional days with various levels of approval.
Every case I know of where a manager tried to refuse rollover (for an expat) was over-ruled in favor of the above policy
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Post by Carolina on Apr 14, 2012 4:21:13 GMT
o
Concerning dental work - I required a lot of dental work and as another posting has said it is difficult to get the times that one requires and there can be a long waiting list - so I attend Dental at Saad Hospital - they are excellent and so far I have had not problems whatsoever and the good news is my treatment is being carried out in stages with no long waiting lists etc as I am very scared of dentists I have found them to be caring and more importantly I now look forward to going to get my treatment done - no pain even with getting injections etc.
Carolina
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CACA
Member
Posts: 11
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Post by CACA on Apr 14, 2012 4:56:16 GMT
So is this moving allowance/settling in allowance mentioned on your offer letter or is it something your relocation advisor would discuss with you after you accept the offer?
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