TridenT
Lifer
I won't be paying for the health plan as work pays enough to where I can select a decent enough plan for my cost to be $0.
Anyway, I'm down to two decisions. Kaiser HMO 20 CA North and BS-CA PPO 700 CA North. One is an HMO plan through Kaiser and the other is a PPO plan through Blue Shield. Both are for in the bay area. Anyway, which would you go with? The HMO basically says as long as I go to their hospitals and care, I won't pay almost anything on anything. The PPO clearly states that I can use their in-network providers, have a $700 deductible, and they'll cover 80% in-network. Out of network, it's $700. The maximum out-of-pocket is $3,300. However, things are fuzzy and it's not totally clear how the plan will work for everything. Kaiser HMO is $1,500 out of pocket maximum and no deductible.
What do you think? I'm 24 and relatively healthy/problem-free. The biggest issue will be emergency room care and new illness. Kaiser says "The plan covers emergency care for life-threatening injury or illness in a hospital emergency room at 100% after a $100 copay regardless of which hospital you use or whether you have approval from your Primary Care Physician (PCP).". Blue shield says "The plan covers emergency care for life-threatening injury or illness in a hospital emergency room at 80% of the in-network and out-of-network benefit level after the deductible, regardless of which hospital you use." Which seems worse than Kaiser.
It seems the Kaiser HMO plan is better in terms of cost. It won't be the most convenient in some regards (as I'll need approval from a PCP for specialty stuff) but maybe that won't be a big deal anyway?
Anyway, I'm down to two decisions. Kaiser HMO 20 CA North and BS-CA PPO 700 CA North. One is an HMO plan through Kaiser and the other is a PPO plan through Blue Shield. Both are for in the bay area. Anyway, which would you go with? The HMO basically says as long as I go to their hospitals and care, I won't pay almost anything on anything. The PPO clearly states that I can use their in-network providers, have a $700 deductible, and they'll cover 80% in-network. Out of network, it's $700. The maximum out-of-pocket is $3,300. However, things are fuzzy and it's not totally clear how the plan will work for everything. Kaiser HMO is $1,500 out of pocket maximum and no deductible.
What do you think? I'm 24 and relatively healthy/problem-free. The biggest issue will be emergency room care and new illness. Kaiser says "The plan covers emergency care for life-threatening injury or illness in a hospital emergency room at 100% after a $100 copay regardless of which hospital you use or whether you have approval from your Primary Care Physician (PCP).". Blue shield says "The plan covers emergency care for life-threatening injury or illness in a hospital emergency room at 80% of the in-network and out-of-network benefit level after the deductible, regardless of which hospital you use." Which seems worse than Kaiser.
It seems the Kaiser HMO plan is better in terms of cost. It won't be the most convenient in some regards (as I'll need approval from a PCP for specialty stuff) but maybe that won't be a big deal anyway?
