Healthcare - Bluecross

RyanMalpiede

RyanMalpiede

Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
5,400
Help?!!

Single, 31, in CA that needs a better healthcare plan. Company I work for does not provide health or dental. What the best healthcare/dental plan I can get from bluecross?

Right now I have PPO Saver from bluecross that costs me $110 a month.

thanks,

ryan
 
Is Kaiser-Permanente in your area?

They have some reasonable rates and that is the health plan we had at work before I retired. They were,nt half bad.

If you have any military service you can register for care at a V.A.hospital.
 
I have got to defend Bluecross. They have been fantastic for me and my family.

When my daughter turned 19 she had to come off of my employer's family plan with BC, since she was not a full-time student. She also had no employer access to health insurance of her own. I chose to pay for COBRA coverage for her. My wife was against it, said that she had to stand on her own two feet someday. I told her that if anything major happened to Kim she knew darn well that we would go broke trying to keep her alive.

At age 21, in the second year of the COBRA plan, Kim was severely injured in a hit and run. She had extensive bodily damage, severe head impact, and brain stem damage. Not expected to live, then to always be comatose, then to always be in a persistent vegetative state (and the doctors gave me two opportunities to kill her, saying that she would never be anything but a vegetable.) As I type this, she is downstairs doing her own laundry, just finiished doing the dishes. In a wheelchair and can't talk, but mentally fully there and a blessing to eveyone she meets. You might have seen her at Blade this year.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama paid out over $825,000 for her care. They put her in a managed care program, and never denied us anything under the plan that she needed. They did things that went way beyond what they were legally obligated to do. That Blue Cross COBRA policy was the best money I have ever spent.
 
I've had a couple of disputes with Blue Cross/Blue Shield over the years but nothing major. I have the choice of several plans and I choose BC/BS because they have such a large number of participanting practitioners that I can go to almost any doctor I choose.
 
If you are a member of any organizations (professional, etc.) check and see if they have an insurance plan available. Sometimes they have decent plans, sometimes not. You can also consider catostrophic care insurance, which doesn't pay a penny until you hit some fairly big level like 5 or 10 grand, but will protect you if something really bad happens (see above post). My mom had that and it did pay for a lot of stuff for when she had breast cancer.
 
I pay the same amount for Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal, and it has treated me very good, except I have to pay 400 bucks for a wisdom teeth extraction, and I had to pay 90 bucks when I went to the dentist. That was almost about the same time I joined BFC, and now the pain has gotten bad again, and I desperately need this operation done. Except for the fact that they do not pay dental (Danbo, do you know this reason?, probably different where he is too), my plan is great!
 
RyanMalpiede said:
yeah i have wisdom that need to be taken out too. :(
Click to expand...
My sincerest wishes for you that it's not laterally impacted. They had to chisel one out'a my jawbone :barf: :(
 
Bladewolf said:
My sincerest wishes for you that it's not laterally impacted. They had to chisel one out'a my jawbone :barf: :(
Click to expand...

Ok I just threw up a little in my mouth just of the thought of that. I will find out today. Thanks though. :o
 
Sorry RM didn't mean to give you chills, just my best wishes that your's goes easier. 3 of mine we're no problem, my regular dentist did them. I knew I was screwed when he looked at the 4th X-Ray and said "uh-oh" :eek:
 
BCBS FEP is pretty good. I have a $500 deductible, and I've never had to pay out-of-pocket more than $180 per year, and that covered 3 births, including one emergency C-section. Dental is a pain, though. I paid out over $2000 in dental care for myself alone last year. (I was probably better off not knowing what the state of my teeth was) My wife has been putting off going, just because she knows it will probably be just as much. I'm looking into getting a suplemental dental plan from somewhere else.

D2
 
Any good federal dental plans out there? FullerH is in my general area, different state so that means different rules, but same general area. Different agency too, but I'm sure that OPM covers everyone. Danbo, any news from the hinterlands?

Ryan, I've seen a lot of doctors in my area either retire, leave their practices, or just give up because of high insurance premiums. I'm looking into whether or not one of the dental schools can yank the wisdom teeth for free!
 
ryan...i can not speak to the california bc/bs plans as i am in a state on the other side of the country and deal with different bs/bs companies (they are all independent licensees).

first off...as a physician i find the whole lot of insurance companies to be a bunch of rotten /scummy/ low life b*#@*%&s...and that is on a good day.

with that as the starting point BC/BS is ok... BC/BS is accepted by most everyone and at least locally they do a better than average job of taking care of business on both ends. they offer a wide range of plans

the very complexity of all the plans makes me recommend you check with an independent agent that knows his stuff to help figure out what is right for you. i will tell you that a personally purchased plan that costs $110/month is a great deal if it offers even a mediocre level of coverage

you will not find a "cheap" plan that offers low deductible office visits/prescriptions etc. you may very well want to check into a HSA (with a high deductible insurance plan)especially if you are young and healthy. there are tax advantages to doing so and i would strongly look in to them. essential you pay your own out of pocket expenses up to $1k or so and pay for a cheap insurance plan to cover major events

there has been some controversy (as evidenced by articles in this weeks new england journal) about HSa and high deductible plans...the concern being that people are reluctant to go to the doctor if they have to pay for it and tend to put off stuff...to their long term detriment ...both health wise and long term expense wise.



as far as dental plans go..they tend to suck. a lot dental plans through employers ...whether they are labelled that way or not...are straight reimbursement plans. some go through managed care type arrangements and almost all have low caps.

dental "insurance" like that offered through delta dental etc is more like buying a discount than traditional "insurance" like BC/BS medical. if you do the math you are usually better off making a cash agreement with you dentist than messing with those plans. at least that has been my personal experience
 
Thanks bandaidman ... i was hoping to hear the real deal from a doc on here.

thanks to all...

:thumbup:
 
Ryan, I'd keep Blue Cross/Shield because when I was with them, even though it was a group plan where I worked, our represenitive found the dollar difference I was charged to be too high at the doctors office and I paid less than what this office charged. They will go to bat for you like no other I have had. :thumbup:
 
Kaiser-Permanete SUCKS!! I really, really, really, have an intense dislike for THAT hideous excuse for insurance!! (And their so-called hospitals!)

I had it some 10 years ago when I lived in So. Cal.

I am now in Mass. and currently have Blue Cross Blue Shield, I am happy with them. Let's say I have gained a whole new appreciation for them, after having some truely horrible insurance experiences!! KEEP Blue Cross!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top