I have been a student for a long time.  It has been a total of 22 years now.  That is, obviously, the majority of my life.  I am used to being a student, with all that entails.  And there is one thing that being a student doesn't generally entail.

Benefits.

While I will still be in training, it suddenly dawned on me that I will be employed.  And with employment comes benefits.  And in our case, Dartmouth-Hitchcock has some pretty nice benefits.  I was investigating how much it was going to cost us for our health insurance.  See, last year they decided to increase the health insurance premiums for students with families by about 200%.  Needless to say, we felt the hit.

They sent out an email about how they are going to go ahead and raise premiums even more for students with families this year.  In order to keep that increase minimum, they are also going to increase deductibles and decrease benefits.  Sounds like a great deal, no?

I suppose that is what happens when you are so dramatically the minority.

Well, me curiosity was piqued.  How much was I going to have to pay next year for health insurance?  So I did a little research and found the answer.  And then I called my wife to tell her the news.

It is free.

Yep.  Dartmouth-Hitchcock pays the premium for all House Staff as well as their eligible dependents.  We were thrilled.  That is a huge help for the next year.  So, while I was at it I thought I would look into the disability benefits.  There has been a big buzz at school about disability, with the option to purchase disability through Duke if it is cheaper than where we will be going.  Well, guess what.  Disability is free as well.  So is (limited) life insurance. 

This is a whole new world to me.  One I look forward to entering.  All at about $7.00/hr.