12 ms·

Oh neat, I just signed up for Aetna (first time working in America since ACA). Is this normal for them? Am I an idiot?

by mabbo 9y ago

jasonkostempski 9y ago
I have them through work, they're pretty shitty, for example, I currently have to either turn of uBlock (not an option) or open dev tools to unhide a div in order to log in. Why there is anything on health insurance website that communicates with a third-party server baffles me. That said, I don't think there are any good options in the US. They all have weird quirks like this, they all require a fight to get the payouts you're entitled to and they'll fudge the numbers so you end up paying way more than you expect. Welcome to America. Edit: I do have APL gap insurance too. I have nothing but praise for them, easy to work with, paid quickly (checks usually made out to me directly because most places here don't deal with APL), and covered most of my out-of-pocket cost with Aetna which I maxed out last year.
- Fej 9y ago
  Aetna uses JavaScript for everything on their website. Can't middle-click a link to open in a new tab because it's JS, not a proper link.
  - jasonkostempski 9y ago
    I can accept that but whatever the reference to twitter ads is for, I'm appalled by.
sqeaky 9y ago
You shouldn't be downvoted for normal and reasonable questions, or even for self doubt. Aetna is terrible. The lobby against healthcare reform at every turn. They didn't want obamacare/ACA they didn't want to compete accross state lines, they want to be able to exempt people from pre-existing conditions, they want to give people the run-around. They are not trustworthy and they are run by bad people. (don't beat up on their phone agents though, they are just trying to make ends meets).
- rcraft 9y ago
  Are there any other insurers that don't do/want many of these same things?
  - sqeaky 9y ago
    I think BlueCross and United Health only do some of the evil things, but I wouldn't swear to it.
  - chaosphere2112 9y ago
    For those in one of the covered regions[1], Kaiser Permanente is largely not-evil. You have to go through your GP to get referrals to specialists, but it's a series of mostly consistent "I have X problem" "Try Y" "Didn't work" "Try Z" "Didn't Work" "OK, let's get you to a specialist" events. They have an interesting governance structure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Permanente https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Permanente) that tries to align incentives correctly. [1]: Coverage areas as divided by corporate entities: Northern California Southern California Colorado Georgia Hawaii Mid-Atlantic (vicinity of Washington, D.C., including Maryland and Virginia) Northwest (Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington) Washington (except Southwest Washington)
    - Cerium 9y ago
      Lots of people complain about Kaiser. I was a member when I was growing up, and have signed up again now that I have a job offering Kaiser coverage. For me Kaiser is a couple things. First of all it is peace of mind. They won't screw you. Essentially everything they offer is covered at a reasonable rate. Example: I was sent to the emergency room once and was able to pay on the spot with the cash in my wallet. Secondly, if you go to one of their medical centers everything is in that building. When I am sick, I don't want to go to a few stops across town to get everything (doctors office, lab, pharmacy, etc). Additionally they actively do things to keep people healthy. They host farmers markets at some of their centers, run advertisements focused on getting exercise and eating well. In general, they make you feel like they are on your side.
yebyen 9y ago
If you know how to "don't take no for an answer" I'll say optimistically, you'll be alright. My experience with my wife's health care (Aetna) has been that she will call, try to get an issue resolved, be told "there is no resolution possible" enough times by enough different people that she is ready to give up. Then we call together, and suddenly the story changes. The particular issue we were dealing with, is not really important, but tl;dr I almost wound up with two health insurances because I tried to stay insured and cover my bases when I was changing jobs, and nobody needs two health insurances. They tried to tell us we couldn't cancel when I got a new job that came with better coverage for less. I thought that was a qualifying event! But, through some nonsense technicality we would not be allowed to cancel during the plan year, and even though I'd never made a claim and we were making quarterly payments, we'd be on the hook for the remainder of payments for the whole year. (This is illegal, I'm sure of it.) The best advice I can give you is, know your rights and how to assert them. Good luck with that though, health care in this country is byzantine and I had the benefit of people in my family that work in health care administration who could help me understand.
- arkades 9y ago
  1) know who to appeal to outside the company. This is the nuclear option. It's usually listed in fine print on every paper denial. 2) "My (partner) works in insurance. He does shit like this for a living. Please don't make me have to (goto 1)". 3) Feel free to cite the law where relevant, on paper, certified mail. The response is invariably "this is wrong, you misunderstand the law, but we will make an exception and (follow the fucking law this once.)" I was in health insurance, management level, before I went into medicine.
  - LanceH 9y ago
    The number one rule is don't pay anything until it is resolved. The second you've made payment, nobody else cares to make any effort.
    - arkades 9y ago
      This is not something I'd recommend. Any lapse in payment will be used to suspend your policy in the future in the event you get flagged as a high-expense patient, backdated to the period you didn't pay your premiums on time. Pay on time, keep documentation you paid on time. Hell, turn on autopay and keep documentation on -that-. Don't ever think you can hold your premiums hostage. You'll only be screwing yourself. Edit: if you're referring to clinic bills, be sure you're in active communication with the practice manager so you don't get sent to collections. If it's a hospital, you'll be sent to collections anyway - they automate that process, once you're sufficiently late.
Arubis 9y ago
Aetna has long had a poor reputation, even amongst insurance companies. The phrase "Aetna, Aetna, so sorry we met ya" was commonplace in the healthcare industry ~15y ago.
emodendroket 9y ago
They're all like this.
cgb223 9y ago
I had COBRA healthcare through them and even though HR did all the paperwork and submitted it to Aetna, Aetna forgot to actually setup the policy. I found this out the hard way in the ER mid near fatal allergic reaction So yeah, you'll be fine...
- blackguardx 9y ago
  Was this in California around 2008? There was a big scandal about this and now there are big fines for doing it. A few insurers were accepting people (and accepting payment) without actually setting them up in the system. When many of these people went to use the insurance, they were told that not only did they not have insurance, they would be denied any insurance for having pre-existing conditions.
  - yebyen 9y ago
    My favorite is the HR person who says "we can correct any errors that were made with your insurance retroactively, don't worry" I am worried, though! Because I've got this deduction coming out of my paycheck for insurance, and your insurance provider just told me that they've never heard of me! Escalate!
  - cgb223 9y ago
    No this was two months ago Maybe they're still doing it
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Oh neat, I just signed up for Aetna (first time working in America since ACA). Is this normal for them? Am I an idiot?

by mabbo 9y ago

Oh neat, I just signed up for Aetna (first time working in America since ACA). Is this normal for them? Am I an idiot?

I have them through work, they're pretty shitty, for example, I currently have to either turn of uBlock (not an option) or open dev tools to unhide a div in order to log in. Why there is anything on health insurance website that communicates with a third-party server baffles me. That said, I don't think there are any good options in the US. They all have weird quirks like this, they all require a fight to get the payouts you're entitled to and they'll fudge the numbers so you end up paying way more than you expect. Welcome to America. Edit: I do have APL gap insurance too. I have nothing but praise for them, easy to work with, paid quickly (checks usually made out to me directly because most places here don't deal with APL), and covered most of my out-of-pocket cost with Aetna which I maxed out last year.

Fej 9y ago
Aetna uses JavaScript for everything on their website. Can't middle-click a link to open in a new tab because it's JS, not a proper link.
- jasonkostempski 9y ago
  I can accept that but whatever the reference to twitter ads is for, I'm appalled by.

sqeaky 9y ago

You shouldn't be downvoted for normal and reasonable questions, or even for self doubt. Aetna is terrible. The lobby against healthcare reform at every turn. They didn't want obamacare/ACA they didn't want to compete accross state lines, they want to be able to exempt people from pre-existing conditions, they want to give people the run-around. They are not trustworthy and they are run by bad people. (don't beat up on their phone agents though, they are just trying to make ends meets).

rcraft 9y ago
Are there any other insurers that don't do/want many of these same things?
- sqeaky 9y ago
  I think BlueCross and United Health only do some of the evil things, but I wouldn't swear to it.
- chaosphere2112 9y ago
  For those in one of the covered regions[1], Kaiser Permanente is largely not-evil. You have to go through your GP to get referrals to specialists, but it's a series of mostly consistent "I have X problem" "Try Y" "Didn't work" "Try Z" "Didn't Work" "OK, let's get you to a specialist" events. They have an interesting governance structure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Permanente https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Permanente) that tries to align incentives correctly. [1]: Coverage areas as divided by corporate entities: Northern California Southern California Colorado Georgia Hawaii Mid-Atlantic (vicinity of Washington, D.C., including Maryland and Virginia) Northwest (Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington) Washington (except Southwest Washington)
  - Cerium 9y ago
    Lots of people complain about Kaiser. I was a member when I was growing up, and have signed up again now that I have a job offering Kaiser coverage. For me Kaiser is a couple things. First of all it is peace of mind. They won't screw you. Essentially everything they offer is covered at a reasonable rate. Example: I was sent to the emergency room once and was able to pay on the spot with the cash in my wallet. Secondly, if you go to one of their medical centers everything is in that building. When I am sick, I don't want to go to a few stops across town to get everything (doctors office, lab, pharmacy, etc). Additionally they actively do things to keep people healthy. They host farmers markets at some of their centers, run advertisements focused on getting exercise and eating well. In general, they make you feel like they are on your side.

yebyen 9y ago

If you know how to "don't take no for an answer" I'll say optimistically, you'll be alright. My experience with my wife's health care (Aetna) has been that she will call, try to get an issue resolved, be told "there is no resolution possible" enough times by enough different people that she is ready to give up. Then we call together, and suddenly the story changes. The particular issue we were dealing with, is not really important, but tl;dr I almost wound up with two health insurances because I tried to stay insured and cover my bases when I was changing jobs, and nobody needs two health insurances. They tried to tell us we couldn't cancel when I got a new job that came with better coverage for less. I thought that was a qualifying event! But, through some nonsense technicality we would not be allowed to cancel during the plan year, and even though I'd never made a claim and we were making quarterly payments, we'd be on the hook for the remainder of payments for the whole year. (This is illegal, I'm sure of it.) The best advice I can give you is, know your rights and how to assert them. Good luck with that though, health care in this country is byzantine and I had the benefit of people in my family that work in health care administration who could help me understand.

arkades 9y ago
1) know who to appeal to outside the company. This is the nuclear option. It's usually listed in fine print on every paper denial. 2) "My (partner) works in insurance. He does shit like this for a living. Please don't make me have to (goto 1)". 3) Feel free to cite the law where relevant, on paper, certified mail. The response is invariably "this is wrong, you misunderstand the law, but we will make an exception and (follow the fucking law this once.)" I was in health insurance, management level, before I went into medicine.
- LanceH 9y ago
  The number one rule is don't pay anything until it is resolved. The second you've made payment, nobody else cares to make any effort.
  - arkades 9y ago
    This is not something I'd recommend. Any lapse in payment will be used to suspend your policy in the future in the event you get flagged as a high-expense patient, backdated to the period you didn't pay your premiums on time. Pay on time, keep documentation you paid on time. Hell, turn on autopay and keep documentation on -that-. Don't ever think you can hold your premiums hostage. You'll only be screwing yourself. Edit: if you're referring to clinic bills, be sure you're in active communication with the practice manager so you don't get sent to collections. If it's a hospital, you'll be sent to collections anyway - they automate that process, once you're sufficiently late.

Arubis 9y ago

Aetna has long had a poor reputation, even amongst insurance companies. The phrase "Aetna, Aetna, so sorry we met ya" was commonplace in the healthcare industry ~15y ago.

emodendroket 9y ago

They're all like this.

cgb223 9y ago

I had COBRA healthcare through them and even though HR did all the paperwork and submitted it to Aetna, Aetna forgot to actually setup the policy. I found this out the hard way in the ER mid near fatal allergic reaction So yeah, you'll be fine...

blackguardx 9y ago
Was this in California around 2008? There was a big scandal about this and now there are big fines for doing it. A few insurers were accepting people (and accepting payment) without actually setting them up in the system. When many of these people went to use the insurance, they were told that not only did they not have insurance, they would be denied any insurance for having pre-existing conditions.
- yebyen 9y ago
  My favorite is the HR person who says "we can correct any errors that were made with your insurance retroactively, don't worry" I am worried, though! Because I've got this deduction coming out of my paycheck for insurance, and your insurance provider just told me that they've never heard of me! Escalate!
- cgb223 9y ago
  No this was two months ago Maybe they're still doing it

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]