CareFirst Blue Choice dropped Sibley Memorial from network effective today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BlueChoice may be different than the regular Carefirst.

It is—it’s an HMO.

Not ours. We had a POS plan (Plus Open Access, but joke it’s for Piece of $hit) with High Deductible. I’d prefer an HMO but it was cost prohibitive.

[Anonymous]

^have, not had.

[Anonymous]

When is this country going to admit that private health insurance does not work?

It's a bunch of BS wrapped in a profit motive that is completely antithetical to "health care."

Sorry for the issue, OP. I totally empathize, as I am on Obamacare and every year my existing insurance stops participating and is reinvented as a new insurance company that does. Seriously -- my current insurer's portal has three years worth of my records, because only the name has changed. I'm sure someone is making a ton of money creating and dissolving insurance plans every year.

[Anonymous]

Well crap. Both my breast cancer and skin cancer follow up is at Sibley.

[Anonymous]

For the individual that had their appt. canceled at Sibley, please call Johns Hopkins Imaging at Bethesda and we will take care of you. We are open tomorrow till noon and you can call to make your appt. Call 443-997-7237. I apologize for this occurring

[Anonymous]

To clarify - our Johns Hopkins Call Center (443-997-7237) is open on Saturday till noon and after that reopens on Tuesday Please call to schedule your appt at Johns Hopkins Bethesda. We have access to your Sibley images and reports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blue Choice is Care First’s HMO. For those that have been around a while, it is the old CapitalCare.

Even this is inaccurate information. All Blue Choice plans aren’t HMOs. I have a Blue Choice plan that is a PPO. General rule of thumb…never get a PPO if you have a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To clarify - our Johns Hopkins Call Center (443-997-7237) is open on Saturday till noon and after that reopens on Tuesday Please call to schedule your appt at Johns Hopkins Bethesda. We have access to your Sibley images and reports.

NP and this is such a kind and helpful post. Thanks for being caring and looking out for your fellow DCUM posters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blue Choice is Care First’s HMO. For those that have been around a while, it is the old CapitalCare.

Even this is inaccurate information. All Blue Choice plans aren’t HMOs. I have a Blue Choice plan that is a PPO. General rule of thumb…never get a PPO if you have a choice.

I'm not sure why you would say that. I have only ever had PPOs and both high and low deductible plans. I'm not sure why anyone would pick an HMO over a PPO unless you're in an area with a LARGE Kaiser network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the individual that had their appt. canceled at Sibley, please call Johns Hopkins Imaging at Bethesda and we will take care of you. We are open tomorrow till noon and you can call to make your appt. Call 443-997-7237. I apologize for this occurring

Do you have any info on the insurance situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blue Choice is Care First’s HMO. For those that have been around a while, it is the old CapitalCare.

Even this is inaccurate information. All Blue Choice plans aren’t HMOs. I have a Blue Choice plan that is a PPO. General rule of thumb…never get a PPO if you have a choice.

I'm not sure why you would say that. I have only ever had PPOs and both high and low deductible plans. I'm not sure why anyone would pick an HMO over a PPO unless you're in an area with a LARGE Kaiser network.

+1. Not sure why you would avoid PPO - that’s all I’ve ever had and can go basically anywhere with no issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blue Choice is Care First’s HMO. For those that have been around a while, it is the old CapitalCare.

Even this is inaccurate information. All Blue Choice plans aren’t HMOs. I have a Blue Choice plan that is a PPO. General rule of thumb…never get a PPO if you have a choice.

I'm not sure why you would say that. I have only ever had PPOs and both high and low deductible plans. I'm not sure why anyone would pick an HMO over a PPO unless you're in an area with a LARGE Kaiser network.

If you see lots of specialists, an HMO is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blue Choice is Care First’s HMO. For those that have been around a while, it is the old CapitalCare.

Even this is inaccurate information. All Blue Choice plans aren’t HMOs. I have a Blue Choice plan that is a PPO. General rule of thumb…never get a PPO if you have a choice.

I'm not sure why you would say that. I have only ever had PPOs and both high and low deductible plans. I'm not sure why anyone would pick an HMO over a PPO unless you're in an area with a LARGE Kaiser network.

HMO’s typically cover more of the cost, assuming you stay in network. We had HMO’s for 10 years with no issues. We’d have one now but it’s too expensive and now we have a sucky HDHP. When for my pregnancies/deliveries it was one single $20 copay to the OB at confirmation of pregnancy and I think a $50 copay to the hospital for an entire delivery including epidural. No other bills. DH’s vasectomy was $50. Etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blue Choice is Care First’s HMO. For those that have been around a while, it is the old CapitalCare.

Even this is inaccurate information. All Blue Choice plans aren’t HMOs. I have a Blue Choice plan that is a PPO. General rule of thumb…never get a PPO if you have a choice.

I'm not sure why you would say that. I have only ever had PPOs and both high and low deductible plans. I'm not sure why anyone would pick an HMO over a PPO unless you're in an area with a LARGE Kaiser network.

HMO’s typically cover more of the cost, assuming you stay in network. We had HMO’s for 10 years with no issues. We’d have one now but it’s too expensive and now we have a sucky HDHP. When for my pregnancies/deliveries it was one single $20 copay to the OB at confirmation of pregnancy and I think a $50 copay to the hospital for an entire delivery including epidural. No other bills. DH’s vasectomy was $50. Etc.

It really comes down to whether the selection of specialists in network is favorable or not. When you have challenging health problems in the family and want the highly-rated doctors in a major metropolitan area, that can be a problem.

I grew up with Kaiser in California. It was a long time ago, but the specialists at that time and place were really hit or miss, and as I moved on in adulthood I realized that two of my diagnoses were wrong and a lot of the treatments I had as a teen through Kaiser were totally barking up the wrong tree. I also waited months for a minor surgery with a specialist once. In fact I got so sick of waiting that I found a kaiser primary care doctor who said he would do it in the office. He was doing me a favor because the wait was really unpleasant, but he did it badly and I needed the specialist to revise it anyway.

Not good HMO experiences.

[Anonymous]

I am trying to check in on the Sibley portal for a surgery next week. I keep getting a connection error. I have BCBS FEP. I don’t know if my portal problems are related to some insurance change?