I buy my own health insurance and I'm shopping on the marketplace at the moment. Trying to decide if it's worth changing plans or not. It's just me. I've got no particular health issues. Just go in for a check-up 1-2 times/year and want a safety net in case of major injury.
I currently have one of the least expensive Bronze level plans. I could switch to another insurance provider and save about 10% (~$300/year) for a very comparable plan. I don't know if that means I'd have to find a different Dr. office. The Dr. I'd been seeing is transferring to a new location anyway, but the center has my records and what not.
*Please do not flounder this. I'm not here to debate the merits of Obamacare or anything like that. Just the practical nature of if it makes sense to change insurance providers.*
NEALSMO
UltraDork
12/6/16 1:05 p.m.
Can you call the prospective insurance to find out if your specific Doctor is in their network?
You can always contact the new insurance company to make sure your doctor and local hospitals are covered under the plan before you commit. We always do that to make sure, because we were bitten in the ass by one of the hospitals because we forgot to check.
Looking on the potential new provider's site, they list other Dr's and offices for OSU Internal Medicine, but not the specific office location I'd been going to. This seems weird.
Call and ask. That's your best course of action. Or call the insurance provider.
Records aren't a big deal, they can transfer those.
slefain
PowerDork
12/6/16 4:01 p.m.
I've had several plans over the last few years, all with different insurance companies. I just called my doctor and asked who they accepted, then I chose one of those companies. Records are all electronic now, so that's no big deal.
Toebra
Reader
12/7/16 5:59 p.m.
Talk to the doctors about it directly, not the insurance company, because the doctor is who you will be dealing with. The insurance companies and their websites are often wrong. The doctor's office will know what plans they accept. Most providers in California don'accept the exchange plans because the reimbursement is so bad on them
