Need Advice with Health Insurance

My wife teaches in a school system that uses OGB. We have Magnolia Local Plus, family coverage, and it works great.

The important thing to remember about the Pelican HRA 1000 (and any HRA affiliated plan) is that an HRA is NOT an HSA. With an HRA, the employer funds an amount each year to automatically pay bills which apply to your deductible. For a family HRA 1000 plan... it's $2,000 a year. So, year 1, your family deductible is $4,000, of which $2,000 could be covered by the HRA. The next $2,000 would be covered by you, and then you cover your co-insurance once you hit deductible.

The HRA balance can roll over but only until you have enough to satisfy the annual out of pocket max which is $10,000. Also, if you leave an OGB affiliated employer (including if your wife's school system leaves OGB system) then you lose any leftover money.

With a new baby on the way, I'd be tempted to stick with Magnolia Plus. The premiums are a bit higher, but babies have a lot of medical expenses, and the predictibility of the regular plan just makes life easier for you.

HRA affiliated plans are ok if you want to save money and you don't have a lot of regular medical expenses.

OGB also offers an HSA affiliated plan. They put in a base amount per year, and match up to a certain level. Since it's an HSA plan, if your wife leaves, she can take it with her. The deductibles and co-insurance is the same as the HRA plan (prescriptions are different).

I had the Pelican HRA when I was a teacher. It was great because it was cheap and my school district kicked in $2,000 per year for me to use. Whatever isn't used in a year rolls over to the next year. That said, we didn't have any expensive medical issues in the time I had it. With a child on the way, I'd stick with what you have for now. In the future, the HRA can be great, but it's not good for covering expensive bills.