Ronald started his new job as controller with Aero$-$systems today. Carole, the employee benefits clerk, gave Ronald a packet that contains information on the company$$s health insurance options. Aero$-$systems offers its employees the choice between a private insurance company plan $($Blue Cross$/$Blue Shield$)$ and a PPO. Ronald needs to review the packet and decide on which health care program fits his needs. The following is an overview of that information.

A$)$ The monthly premium cost to Ronald for the Blue Cross$/$Blue Shield plan will be $$50.$ For all doctor office visits, prescriptions, and major medical charges, Ronald will be responsible for $10$ percent and the insurance company will cover $90$ percent of covered charges. The annual deductible is $$300.$

B$)$ The POS requires that the employee pay $$55$ per month to supplement the cost of the program with the company$$s payment. If Ron uses health care providers within the plan, he pays copayments of $$20$ for doctors$$ office visits and major medical charges; prescriptions copayments are $$10$ in$-$network. He can also choose to use a health care provider or pharmacy out of the network and pay $20$ percent of all charges after he pays a $$250$ deductible. The POS will pay for $80$ percent of those out of network visits. There is no annual deductible for in$-$network expenses.

Ronald decided to review his medical bills from the previous year to see what costs he had incurred and to help him evaluate his choices. He visited his general physician six times during the year at an average cost of $$200$ for each visit. He also spent $$45$ and $$79$ on prescriptions during the year. Using these costs as an example, what would Ron pay for each of the plans described above? $($For the purposes of the POS computation, assume that Ron visited a physician in$-$network. Assume he had his prescriptions filled at an out$-$of$-$network pharmacy.$)$

$11.$ What annual medical costs will Ronald pay using the sample medical expenses provided if he were to enroll in the Blue Cross$/$Blue Shield plan?

$12.$ If Ronald selects the POS plan, what would annual medical costs be$?$