When I go to an in-network facility and “run it through my insurance” I find it tend to be cheaper because they have agreed discounted rate. This is the case for medications too.
There is a lot of range in prices for MRIs and such where I live. I think if you ask your insurer what they will pay then shop around at in-network facilities when it is a non-emergency situation, you can save a lot of $$ while still getting the insurance benefit.
Not to mention the taxpayers are picking up $12,000 of the tab.
And that’s the thing. What makes the difference is how much an employer can afford to offset the costs. A good benchmark is about $500-$600per person. So a family premium runs about $1500 per month. Your insurance is just under that.
This right here. Our insurer, Aetna, will allow you to look up providers and estimated costs online. They identify preferred providers. Our MRIs net out to about $500 vs $1500 thru other places. It’s a nicer place too.
Definitely shop around for non emergency type stuff. You can save a bundle.
I get a chest CT every 2-3 years and go “off-insurance” for it…I pay $320 cash as opposed to $800 which is what I would pay under my insurance. We are on a self-insured plan and pay 100% of labs and tests until we hit our ridiculously high deductible, which we so far have never hit. So yes, for the expensive tests, it is worth shopping around and/or considering paying outside of insurance.
Well now that the purchase of Aetna by CVS has been approved, wonder what this will mean, aside form their minute clinic services https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/health/cvs-aetna-merger.html
@“Cardinal Fang” or anyone.
My one kid enrolled in an individual plan…it’s the same one as he currently has…for 2019. He has NOT yet seen the bill for this for January. Should he be concerned? He will call the company again…
But maybe…is it just that he is continuing the same plan, and they will just auto withdraw his January premium?
He will call tomorrow. This is Ambetter in Phoenix.
@thumper1, probably they’re just continuing his auto withdrawal, but if it were me I’d call to make sure.
When renewing, wouldn’t the company have listed the price in the renewal offer (whether directly or through some kind of exchange web site)?
A lot of ACA policies (and other policies) auto-renew.
Mine auto-renewed. I still need to do some comparison shopping by 12/15, however, to make sure it is the best option.
Yes, when he did the search, he was selected for auto renewal for the same policy, but he still had to complete an application of some sort.
And yes, he knows his new monthly premium which is about $70 a month more than last year.
He has his completed application materials…and they were all done on time.
@thumper1 Same here for my son. He is renewing and had to update his application. No bill yet. This is BCBS in SC.
@yourmomma “Not to mention the taxpayers are picking up $12,000 of the tab.”
Exactly. @HImom should mention this. I don’t understand why federal employees should have better health insurance than everyone else. And I don’t believe that myth that federal workers get better benefits because they don’t earn the salary they would in the private sector. That isn’t true anymore.
Oh, and young workers aren’t the majority of federal employees. The federal workforce is skewing older now than I believe it ever has.
Just signed up for individual insurance with Anthem. So glad they’ve come back to Maine for 2019! It was cheaper for me to sign up four of us with them than what I would have been paying Harvard Pilgrim for three of us (DS 23 will be visiting from overseas, so I am signing him up for January).
@MaineLonghorn, in my time on CC talking about health insurance, yours is the first positive comment I’ve seen about Anthem.
I think the reason fed employees and former employees get better rates is sheer bargaining power. They have lots of employees and specify that for folks who want to offer health insurance to them they have to meet xyz criteria. If the fed workforce is aging, they no longer have youth to help keep premiums lower, so I’m guessing it’s sheer volume and bargaining power. I have no special insights as to how or how why it is.
Yes, the fed govt pays a portion of employee ins premiums as a benefit of employment, same as some other employers do. No one is disputing this.
@“Cardinal Fang” Anthem in Maine has been OK. No complaints with them.
I hate to be a nitpicker @HImom. But big companies such as the federal government have lower rates because they self insure. They use blue cross/blue shield as an example to administer their claims but it’s not the same as people who buy insurance on the open market as in this thread are having to do.
Your insurance may as a metaphor, look like a duck and quack like a duck but it’s not a duck. It’s a completely different animal.
I have no way of knowing whether the fed govt self-insures, as you say it does @deb922. How can I even know that? I just pay premiums and have claims processed. If you have inside knowledge about how to determine when an entity self-insures please share, I don’t have such knowledge and never have.