Individual Kaiser Silver HMO v Company Blue Shield Bronze PPO [California, USA]

I’d previously been getting a $500 stipend and using all of it to pay for an individual silver Kaiser hmo plan and delta dental insurance for a year or so, after my cobra and cal cobra plan with Kaiser expired. Now they’re saying they don’t need to pay $500 since I’m not on Cobra, and I can switch to their plan or stay on my own. Blue shield has a lot more percentages and they’re usually higher than my kaiser plan, which also has a lot of fixed costs (eg $325 for an MRI), Should I switch to their/the blue shield plan? Can/should I be on both plans? I make 100k, 30M, 94536 – California.

Also, my company is very small ( <10 people). Previously we had even fewer people and most / all people were on their spouse’s plan, or in my case cobra. Now we’ve hired more people who have no spouse and are on the company plan. Should I ask my boss (who’s quite willing to help) if we can upgrade to Silver with some company? If so, how can I best phrase it?

P.S. I’m not sure if I tagged this wrong, I’m interested in a comparison of the plan benefits between two plans – one individual and one small-business employer – and a guesstimate as to their cost / value to me.

submitted by /u/dilletaunty
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