Insurance Costs,
Premiums, and Managing Healthcare.gov
#healthcare #obamacare
#healthcare #obamacare
Today is April
13, 2014. I began my search for a new insurance policy after my TN Blue Cross
small business insurance had been taken off of the table as an option, December
15, 2013. I had had great insurance, in my estimation with my old company. My
co-pays were $15 for doctor’s visits and even hospital visits, most of my
medication, if it was generic, was under $10. But, the best news was that the
entire premium per month was only $136, when all other options were about 4x
what that costs. This is pre-healthcare.gov.
My initial
diagnosis for Healthcare.gov actually was fairly good, until I actually
attained the policy I wanted. I made a couple of tries on the Internet site and
a few phone calls to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee to find out which
network I needed to be in to have all of my Vanderbilt Doctors. It turned out
that the network was “S” and that on a Silver Plan I could get a network S
policy, with my tax credit, for only $79 a month. This particular policy had a
$500 deductible. Once the deductible was met, I have no out of pocket costs.
So, factoring in this $500 per calendar year, because it will inevitably be
paid, my out-of-pocket medical costs per month is $120.66. Again, once that
deductible is met, I will pay nothing for medicine, for doctor’s visits, or for
an entire hospital stay.
So, I’m paying
now less per month, even with the deductible than I was paying before, and I
have complete coverage with no co-pay, including hospital visits. Pretty damn
good stuff.
Now, the downside
of the program. Since January, I have had a complaint call into healthcare.gov
because the government sent the wrong information to Blue Cross Blue Shield,
saying that I wanted a $179 policy. (To be fair, all of my application had to
be reassessed after I did my 2014 taxes, because I attained a larger tax credit
after that.)
So, I had to pay
this extra $100 for two months before Blue Cross got the correct information
from healthcare.gove. The 6 people I talked to at healthcare.gov agreed that I
should be credited this amount at the responsibility of healthcare.gov, because
it the overage was their fault, around $200.
It is April 13,
and I have made 6 calls, and have had no sign of a return call yet. Each time,
I’m told a representative will call me back within a week, two week, 10
business days. Yet, nothing. I’ve clocked in about six full hours trying to
straighten out $200 worth of mess. I could just let it go, because I charge $95
for my time, normally, but now it’s principle I deal with. This is much like
the alcohol addict who tried to sue me for my background music being too loud
in her hypnosis session for modifying studying behavior. “She had a hangover,”
I told the judge, as she denied drinking two bottles of wine a night.
Fortunately, I kept records of everything. Eventually, I won the case. I could
have folded and given her the money back she paid me. But, sometimes, if you
don’t operate on principle, you lose important self-esteem and self-worth.
Every moment I spent preparing for that case helped me realize that I was
right. Sometimes, we just need to be right!
Folding your hands
because of cost and time, when you’re holding a full house is not what your
spirit would have you do, in most cases. Yes, I would agree that sometimes,
with antagonists, it’s best to fold. But when the lesson isn’t yours, you must
play your character with utmost poise until the end of the show.
This is all part
of Finding
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authentic self, self-love, and self-esteem, check out my new book below.
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* Bo Sebastian is a
Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to
QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR
MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or http://bosebastian.com/Home_Page.php Please feel
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