3 ms·

Not American but it seems so crazy to me that you can't even realistically choose your provider, since it's combined with your job. Seems insane.

bdangubic 2y ago
of course you can but it ain’t cheap. $20k for a family of 3 is what I pay
- brokenmachine 2y ago
  That is a lot. Does your job pay you the amount they would have paid for you?
  - s1artibartfast 2y ago
    Nope. It might even be illegal to offer a cash alternative. There are lots of complex laws around what companies can do, must do, and can't do with respect to healthcare.
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      you can negotiate your way to anything you want. while companies technically might have laws to comply, it is on the employee to negotiate their way into whatever it is that they desire. for instance, I may be negotiating my salary and get to mutually-agreeable amount X. I can then say I do not want to be covered by your health insurance but in lieu of that I need my salary to be X+$30,000 to cover the cost of the health insurance I will purchase myself for my family. the company of course can say yay or nay on that but this is the avenue one can explore to get around this company-provided-HI nonsense.
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    unfortunately - no (as you may have guessed it)
    - brokenmachine 2y ago
      I hadn't guessed. Good for your employers I guess. Or are you somehow double-covered?
      - bdangubic 2y ago
        no, I pay for my own insurance
s1artibartfast 2y ago
Many employer offer some choices. Mine offers two providers and two plans for each. One is for profit (UHC) and the other is non-profit (Kaiser). The consensus is that Kaiser rations healthcare and makes referrals difficult, but procedures are always covered. UHC let's people direct their own care, but reimbursement is less certain.
nradov 2y ago
Usually you can choose your provider. Employers typically offer health plans from only one or two payers, but each payer's health plans have many network providers. Of course some of those providers may be inconveniently located or not accepting new patients so depending on where you live the actual choices may be very limited. The other option is to go to an out-of-network provider but that typically means higher out-of-pocket charges for the patient.

bdangubic 2y ago

of course you can but it ain’t cheap. $20k for a family of 3 is what I pay

brokenmachine 2y ago
That is a lot. Does your job pay you the amount they would have paid for you?
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  Nope. It might even be illegal to offer a cash alternative. There are lots of complex laws around what companies can do, must do, and can't do with respect to healthcare.
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    you can negotiate your way to anything you want. while companies technically might have laws to comply, it is on the employee to negotiate their way into whatever it is that they desire. for instance, I may be negotiating my salary and get to mutually-agreeable amount X. I can then say I do not want to be covered by your health insurance but in lieu of that I need my salary to be X+$30,000 to cover the cost of the health insurance I will purchase myself for my family. the company of course can say yay or nay on that but this is the avenue one can explore to get around this company-provided-HI nonsense.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  unfortunately - no (as you may have guessed it)
  - brokenmachine 2y ago
    I hadn't guessed. Good for your employers I guess. Or are you somehow double-covered?
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      no, I pay for my own insurance

s1artibartfast 2y ago

Many employer offer some choices. Mine offers two providers and two plans for each. One is for profit (UHC) and the other is non-profit (Kaiser). The consensus is that Kaiser rations healthcare and makes referrals difficult, but procedures are always covered. UHC let's people direct their own care, but reimbursement is less certain.

nradov 2y ago

Usually you can choose your provider. Employers typically offer health plans from only one or two payers, but each payer's health plans have many network providers. Of course some of those providers may be inconveniently located or not accepting new patients so depending on where you live the actual choices may be very limited. The other option is to go to an out-of-network provider but that typically means higher out-of-pocket charges for the patient.