Insurance is one thing you hope to pay for but never get anything back. Like car insurance, I just hope my medical insurance money never has to do anything for me. Late last year as the Affordable Care Act website debacle unfolded, I, uninsured and self-employed at the time, waited with baited breath to click “enroll” on the Covered California site. But before I could click that button, I searched for doctors that would be covered by the plan I wanted to buy. Oddly, the only doctor listed in my area under the plan I selected was at the local university. Since school doctors are usually only available to, ahem, students, I was perplexed. So I called the University and told them the doctor’s name.
“She left three years ago,” I was told. In other words, before exchanges were written into law she was off to another town.
To avoid the madness of signing up for insurance that doesn’t actually have doctors they say they have, I decided to use an insurance agent. I heard of a free seminar given by insurance professionals at the police station, and met with one of the speakers who offered to navigate me through. As an insurance agent, he gets a commission to sign people up regardless of the cost of the plan he facilitates. Why was there so little public awareness that members could hire agents to manage the sign-up process—and not have to pay them—is a mystery only policymakers could explain.
The insurance agent knew the ins and outs of what was and what was not up to date on the state-run site, and he knew how to find out exactly who is actually in network.
I am exactly the type of person the Affordable Care Act is depending on to make national medical insurance successful. I signed up for the BCBS Bronze plan, being a healthy mid-thirties woman without major health concerns. Of course if catastrophe strikes, and it could at any time, that will test the value of this insurance. I imagine if a terrible event comes my way, the $5,000 deductible will be nothing compared to the cost of surgery and recovery I would have faced before the ACA.
Meanwhile, however, having insurance that is expensive to utilize has had two unexpected effects on my decision-making process. First of all, whereas I did qualify for some local medical subsidies before, now through my insurance, a doctor’s visit is more expensive. For that reason, I find myself more interested in similarly priced alternative modalities such as acupuncture.
Secondly, I also find myself more committed to preventive care by exercising regularly and eating well. Now that I have a dollar amount tied to each doctor’s visit, I feel even more motivated to care for my health.
Cost sharing is inevitable, and I see this as the first step. So far I have not spoken with BCBS and have not had to file any claims with them. In this rare case, like car insurance, I hope I never find out the quality of their product.
