CareFirst Blue Choice dropped Sibley Memorial from network effective today

[Anonymous]

Bumping. Does this apply to fepblue standard plans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping. Does this apply to fepblue standard plans?

No it doesn't. Just had an MRI there with my FED Blue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I paid $0 for my entire pregnancy. Like no copays for OB visits, scans, birth, anything. I had a PPO.

I'm a breast cancer patient with CareFirst BlueChoice Advantage, which is a PPO, and have had zero complaints about my insurance coverage. There are specialist co-pays and stuff but from the amounts I'm seeing on the EOBs, what I'm paying is a drop in the bucket. I've had a ton of procedures and medications and see a bunch of different doctors and have run up about $300,000 in bills in the last 10 months. Of that, the out of pocket cost has been maybe $700. Everything my doctors have submitted to insurance has been immediately approved, including when I had an allergic reaction to a drug and needed a different formulation that cost 5x as much. It's making me feel like I can never leave my job because the insurance coverage has saved me from financial ruin. I know it sounds pathetic because the state of health care is such a mess in this country and should be so much better but I can't help but feel grateful to CareFirst anyway.

I'm glad you've had a good experience as you go through this ordeal and I wish you the best for your health. That said, it's like a form of Stockholm syndrome that you feel grateful. The model is unethical. Health insurance companies are parasitic, unethical, unnecessary intermediaries who seek to insert themselves to profit from illness and stress. They rely on complication and obfuscation and that people will give up on calling for coverage because they are sick and exhausted and out of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I paid $0 for my entire pregnancy. Like no copays for OB visits, scans, birth, anything. I had a PPO.

I'm a breast cancer patient with CareFirst BlueChoice Advantage, which is a PPO, and have had zero complaints about my insurance coverage. There are specialist co-pays and stuff but from the amounts I'm seeing on the EOBs, what I'm paying is a drop in the bucket. I've had a ton of procedures and medications and see a bunch of different doctors and have run up about $300,000 in bills in the last 10 months. Of that, the out of pocket cost has been maybe $700. Everything my doctors have submitted to insurance has been immediately approved, including when I had an allergic reaction to a drug and needed a different formulation that cost 5x as much. It's making me feel like I can never leave my job because the insurance coverage has saved me from financial ruin. I know it sounds pathetic because the state of health care is such a mess in this country and should be so much better but I can't help but feel grateful to CareFirst anyway.

Why do you feel grateful to CareFirst? You should be grateful to your employer for paying for an expensive plan. I have a crappy CareFirst plan that I pay $1200/month for with a $6k deductible. It’s not CareFirst. It’s the pricey plan you have (even if you only pay a little.)