<p>Busdriver, are you a pilot? </p>
<p>Yes, have been for 30 years.</p>
<p>How did I not know this?? Your name makes sense now. :-)</p>
<p>Funny. I drive about a 400K bus. An Airbus. I’m a capt for a major airline. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out someone’s user name, but it all makes sense when they explain it. Like I have no idea what LasMa stands for. Is it something related to Las Vegas, you’re Las’s mother? I’m at a loss.</p>
<p>CF, not surprised there is a large segment of the population that wants the more expensive, broader networks. Of course, if you live in CA or many other states, it is no longer available in the individual market. </p>
<p>I suppose I shouldn’t care anymore since I have group insurance, but unlike some other posters, I believe the many stories we are hearing about very sick people not getting the care they need. For someone who needs very specialized care or cutting edge treatment at a renown research facility, it must be agonizing if your limited network or formulary doesn’t cover it. It feels like the law is attempting to force everyone into quasi-HMO-like plans. There are many people who have probably signed up and are totally unaware they might have very limited options if they get sick. </p>
<p>I guess it is individual preference but I have never belonged to a managed care plan (even when they were popular in the early 1980’s), and will resist any attempt to force me into one. BTW, the managed care alternative, which was in vogue over 30 years ago, lost its luster after a few years of consumers finding they didn’t really like having limited choices. </p>
<p>This network issue will come to a head eventually but probably only after many people have needlessly suffered.</p>
<p>Good guess, busdriver. My D’s nickname is “La” so that makes me La’s Ma.</p>
<p>ETA – Have you ever flown one of the a380s?</p>
<p>And I’m not surprised that the majority of people who are paying for their own insurance preferred cheaper, narrower networks to wider, more expensive networks. People say they want this or that, but when it’s their own money they want cheap.</p>
<p>This will all shake out. If there’s a market for expensive insurance with wider networks, there will be expensive insurance with wider networks.</p>
<p>There was obviously a market for it until Jan 1. At midnight on Jan 1, the market disappeared.</p>
<p>Ah, but was there a market for Insurance With Wide Networks That Anyone Can Buy? Perhaps, perhaps not.</p>
<p>In Ca. almost every plan in the individual market had wide networks.</p>
<p>But the only people who could buy those wide networks in the individual market were healthy people. </p>
<p>^^ A minor detail. </p>
<p>New York is considering adding an add onto their plans for out of network coverage. The add on will cost money. I think it is a good idea to offer larger network plans and charge accordingly.</p>
<p>GP would go crazy if he lived in NY. :)</p>
<p><a href=“NYS mulls change for insurance exchange coverage”>NYS mulls change for insurance exchange coverage;
<p>Well, a minor detail now is that sick people can’t see their doctors or get their drugs. Unless, of course, they are lying.</p>
<p>Not sure how that’s better.</p>
<p>Me too, dstark. Let the market determine how much, if anything, people want to pay for wider networks. I suspect that most people will be willing to work within a narrower network to keep their premiums lower. But for those who must have access to every single provider within 50 miles, they can have that too, if they’re willing to pay for it.</p>
<p>Flossy, I just talked to somebody who works for a hospital chain. They are seeing new patients that were uninsured and are sick and disabled. </p>
<p>LasMa… Yes. Theoretically, I would also like to see people able to buy insurance policies that will cover them at certain hospitals like Johns Hopkins. I do not know how many will pay for this or if this will work. </p>
<p>The out-of-network rider sounds reasonable. Let the people who want to be reimbursed for out-of-network care pay extra for that option, and those that want less expensive plans don’t have to buy the rider.</p>
<p>It probably wont work. Oh well…</p>
<p>I am talking about specific hospital insurance. </p>
<p>What in the world? Hospitals never turned away the sick. Yeah, for crowded hospitals. </p>
<p>Maybe, you are talking about elective surgeries or something. Glad to hear it’s all working out so well, then. People should be thrilled to pay extra for a doctor somewhere in the same city and I’m sure all those young, healthy people who couldn’t afford insurance pre-ACA will be lining up to pay more for it any day now. </p>
<p>“What in the world? Hospitals never turned away the sick. Yeah, for crowded hospitals.”</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>“Maybe, you are talking about elective surgeries or something”</p>
<p>No. </p>
<p>We better get a lot of healthy people signing up this month. ;)</p>