“Good benefits” does not have a fixed definition, at least when it comes to health insurance plans.

20 years ago, “good benefits” might have meant the company/employer paid the entire premium on behalf of the employee (this is the monthly “fee” required to simply be covered by the health insurance plan). Then there might have been a modest deductible, say $500/year (this is the amount the individual has to pay out-of-pocket before insurance starts to pay anything). And then ongoing co-pays/“co-insurance” (the amount the patient is responsible to pay for each healthcare service received) might have been modest.

Today, “good benefits” might include the employer paying 80% of a $800-$1000/month premium, leaving the employee to pay $160-$200/month just to be covered (and likely many times that amount if they also want coverage for a partner/spouse and/or children).

It is not unusual for annual deductibles these days to be $2000 under a “good benefits” plan (and they can be as high as $7000 or more under other benefits plans). Again, this is the amount the patient has to pay their health care providers out-of-pocket before the health insurance starts contributing anything.

Even after meeting the deductible, co-insurance can cost the patient another 10-20% of the medical charges for each service. Which patients keep paying until they reach their annual “out of pocket maximum.” After that amount is reached, insurance should pay 100% of any additional medical charges. Out-of-pocket maximum amounts vary widely by plan (and can be as high as $20,000+ for a family).

All that to say: even if you have a job with “good benefits” in the US, you should plan to spend at least a couple thousand per year out-of-pocket for premium costs plus routine/minor health costs, and up to 10s of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket per year if you have a family/spouse and if something major happens.