Chicago area and the ACA / Obamacare plans

[emathias]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Well, it's that time of year again.

What Obamacare plan are you choosing? Are you keeping the same one, or choosing another? Why? How much have your costs risen this year?

I stuck with a BCBS bronze plan last year, and didn't have a great experience with them. Only one doctor visit all year, and multiple errors with claim processing, as well as mistakes with their mail order pharmacy. BCBS doesn't have any of the good Chicago hospitals in network - no Northwestern, RUSH, University of Chicago or UIC. They work with Loyola.

My same plan will exist next year and the price is rising a small amount ... from $525 to $550 per month. I am quite surprised, as I assumed Trump's actions in removing the penalty for not having health insurance would cause them to jump more.

Has anyone tried the CIGNA plans or others? Anything to report?

I had BCBS earlier this year and Northwestern was in network. I think it can depend on which plan you're in. Either that or something changed after May.

[Gemini1963]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Well, it's that time of year again.

What Obamacare plan are you choosing? Are you keeping the same one, or choosing another? Why? How much have your costs risen this year?

I stuck with a BCBS bronze plan last year, and didn't have a great experience with them. Only one doctor visit all year, and multiple errors with claim processing, as well as mistakes with their mail order pharmacy. BCBS doesn't have any of the good Chicago hospitals in network - no Northwestern, RUSH, University of Chicago or UIC. They work with Loyola.

My same plan will exist next year and the price is rising a small amount ... from $525 to $550 per month. I am quite surprised, as I assumed Trump's actions in removing the penalty for not having health insurance would cause them to jump more.

Has anyone tried the CIGNA plans or others? Anything to report?

We are sticking with our junky Bronze BCBS-IL HMO that has Advocate in network, as well as our primary care physicians. The deductible is super high, but it's been okay for us in 2018. We too have encountered billing errors, but they got corrected with only one phone call - not ideal, but way easier to fix than we feared whenever we'd pick up the phone to start the process.

We are very fortunate not to have any medical issues that require specialists (so far, and knock on wood). I don't know what we'll do if/when we get to that point.

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by emathias

I had BCBS earlier this year and Northwestern was in network. I think it can depend on which plan you're in. Either that or something changed after May.

Interesting. Do you remember what plan you have? It is an ACA plan? You are continuing with it in 2019? And you have the main NW hospital in network, or one of the affiliated suburban NW hospitals?

Thanks.

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by Gemini1963

We are sticking with our junky Bronze BCBS-IL HMO that has Advocate in network, as well as our primary care physicians. The deductible is super high, but it's been okay for us in 2018. We too have encountered billing errors, but they got corrected with only one phone call - not ideal, but way easier to fix than we feared whenever we'd pick up the phone to start the process.

We are very fortunate not to have any medical issues that require specialists (so far, and knock on wood). I don't know what we'll do if/when we get to that point.

Thanks for sharing this. Glad to hear it is "working" for you and your family. I hope all of us stay healthy in 2019.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Interesting. Do you remember what plan you have? It is an ACA plan? You are continuing with it in 2019? And you have the main NW hospital in network, or one of the affiliated suburban NW hospitals?

Thanks.

The one earlier this year was an employer plan, but I just signed up for 2019 on HealthCare.gov, and basically to get Northwestern coverage, you need one of their Choice PPO plans. The other ones that don't have "Choice" in the name don't have Northwestern. It's just the way BCBSIL does things I guess. Depending on your exact circumstances, going with a Choice plan may be a lot or a little more expensive. There's a lot of consider, but I had a LOT of medical expenses (damn near $100,000, fortunately mostly covered by insurance) this year, so I was most interested in a plan that had a low max-out-of-pocket and had out-of-network coverage, just in case. The plan I chose has a deductible below $1,000 and a max out-of-pocket for $2,600, but I do pay about double per month what the cheapest plan was. Maybe I'll luck out this year and could have gotten by with the cheapest plan, but there are still some lingering possibilities of issues, so I would just rather pay up front "just in case," plus for the flexibility it offers - I couldn't stand the idea of choosing a plan with no out-of-network coverage because if something goes wrong, I may not have any control on where I end up. I'm not excited about the higher premiums, but I'll make do and sleep better with this plan.

[sfcambridge]

Well it's that time of year...

Anything new in the Obamacare landscape that is better for you this year in the Chicago area? Worse?

I was interested to see that Unitedhealthcare was returning to the mix, hoping they would provide a decent option with a better network than my experiences with BCBS. But it looks like UHC will only offer HMO plans. And BCBS continues to be more annoying.... my BCBS PPO high deductible Bronze plan is going up $70 per month, and the only decent hospital in my network (Loyola) is no longer in the network. UHC didn't have any of the academic hospitals in network either (Northestern/U of C/RUSH/Loyola).

What are you choosing? Are you happy with the hospitals in your network?

[sfcambridge]

Hello again.

What plans did you choose for this coming year and why?

Any plan you are leaving because you are unhappy with the insurance?

Did anyone try one of the new Aetna plans this year? How was the coverage? Did they deny a lot, especially drugs that you needed? How was their customer service? Which hospitals do you use?

I have been using BCBS and their PPO plans aren't really PPOs since their networks are limited for new needs, and they also like to reject treatments I need for a rare medical problem. So I am debating trying Aetna, but I am scared of the unknown. Could always be worse!