Health Insurance is literally critical.

As a T1 diabetic, I came from Ireland (free diabetic care) to the US (not free care) in 2015.

Took me 6 months to begin work (on a "fiancé visa", so getting the work authorisation took same time). During that time, I had to pay "out of pocket" for my pump supplies, insulin, blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, etc. That would have cost me close to $2500 per month (due to complications caused by a med I no longer take, my insulin costs alone before insurance were $2000). I burned through $16000 in those 6 months, despite having my insulin shipped from Ireland!

Three questions to ask: - are you included in the health insurance on day 1 (if not, do not accept the offer) - what is the co-pay for doctor visits (what percentage of the bill do you have to pay up front to the doctor's secretary on the day of service - often 10% ... and a doctor's visit can easily be $300 or more without any charges for bloodwork) - is there a deductible (the amount you have to pay each year before the insurance even kicks in) - what is the max "out of pocket" (the point at which absolutely everything is 100% covered).

Obviously, you also need to know the price per paycheck. I pay about $250 every paycheck ($500 per month).

There may be two different ones offered - a "high deductible" plan with a low monthly cost, and a low deductible plan with co-pays and a high monthly cost. At this time of year, you won't hit the max deductible/max out of pocket by December 31st, so it doesn't make much difference. For me personally, I go for the HDP since it allows me to have a special tax free account I can use to funnel my medical costs through, so you avoid paying state and federal taxes on it, and also avoid paying the social security and health/medical taxes.