Guest guest Posted December 28, 2001 Report Share Posted December 28, 2001 Today he brought home the choices for new health care. I am so sick again about what we lost b/c this is pittance compared to what we got at Sony, but I won't tell him that, he would be upset. (Sorry about griping) I should be grateful, we have been without insurance for the last 9 months. What kind of good spouse am I? We basically have the choice between an HMO and a PPO (20% we pay). The Dental is easy, PPO and Dr. Harvey, no question. The HMO has her current Ped in a plan, but you all know how restrictive they are, especially when it comes to ER care. Basically, an HMO pays nothing b/c not one Dr. you might get to treat you is in their plan. We had a PPO before. We have tried HMO's and Kaiser also. The PPO can be expensive, but it allows the least restrictive environment! LOL (You can sure tell I use THAT phrase a lot!) Anyway, do any of you have any suggestions? Since they are older now, the medical doesn't have to even address the autism. But a PPO would allow for future tests, huh? Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2001 Report Share Posted December 29, 2001 Barb, if I had to choose...I would go with the PPO. I do not like being limited in who I go to see and like you said with emergencies and everything. Whatever you're comfortable with, though. Good luck making the right choice for your family! Tamara ----Original Message Follows---- From: IBSourMouse@... Reply-To: parenting_autism To: parenting_autism Subject: New Insurance Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 05:31:40 EST Today he brought home the choices for new health care. I am so sick again about what we lost b/c this is pittance compared to what we got at Sony, but I won't tell him that, he would be upset. (Sorry about griping) I should be grateful, we have been without insurance for the last 9 months. What kind of good spouse am I? We basically have the choice between an HMO and a PPO (20% we pay). The Dental is easy, PPO and Dr. Harvey, no question. The HMO has her current Ped in a plan, but you all know how restrictive they are, especially when it comes to ER care. Basically, an HMO pays nothing b/c not one Dr. you might get to treat you is in their plan. We had a PPO before. We have tried HMO's and Kaiser also. The PPO can be expensive, but it allows the least restrictive environment! LOL (You can sure tell I use THAT phrase a lot!) Anyway, do any of you have any suggestions? Since they are older now, the medical doesn't have to even address the autism. But a PPO would allow for future tests, huh? Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2001 Report Share Posted December 29, 2001 No advice for you here, Barb. We have an HMO and luckily the best pedi in the world is in the plan. I only go to the gyno and dh hasn't been to a dr for I don't know how long.... (knocking on wood here) Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2001 Report Share Posted December 29, 2001 Barb, we have PPO now. We had the choice of going to HMO last year as a cost saving measure by the college but we chose to partial pay for the PPO plan to keep the options it offeres. We've been under an HMO plan in the past and as long as we have a choice I will never use an HMO again. EVER. One of the things you can do to reduce your costs are to ask your physicians if they are participating or preferred participating and if they accept assignment. If they do so your out of pocket costs are less. Even if they are not participating though you still may choose to use that physician if that doctor is the best choice. All things considered, that's still the better choice often. Another option you may consider is looking at a secondary medical insurance to fill in the coverage gap. There are alot of plans out there so it would entail some research, but it might be an option. I know PPOs cost more, but if you can manage it, or if your family has any health matters that are nto run of the mill then you are most likely better with a PPO. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2001 Report Share Posted December 30, 2001 Barb, We've always dealt with PPO type programs. The one time we considered looking at the HMO (it's always been available) my Dr. even told us that it would be a nightmare with the boys history. He was still in the program through a different office, so it wasn't like he was saying it to keep us on as patients either. I like the freedom of going to who we want and when we want and being able to have whatever we want done without somebody having to give me permission. Just my .02 worth! Sue ---------------------------------------------------- Sign Up for NetZero Platinum Today Only $9.95 per month! http://my.netzero.net/s/signup?r=platinum & refcd=PT97 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 31, 2001 Report Share Posted December 31, 2001 I decided on the PPO, (mainly because you can't have the PPO dental without the PPO medical. I found that clause). I want Dr Harvey as our dentist, no substitutions. And he ain't a shabby HMO dentist. I was with an HMO dental plan before him and they were so bad, they didn't even diagnose a cavity that was old, and hole in my filling, and a cracked tooth. When I got to Harvey, he repaired all of those things, and showed them to me with his cool mouth cam so I knew he was truthful. He's more money, but he's worth every penny. Thanks guys for your input. Barb Happy New Year from beautiful Los Angeles! At 4:00 am it's only 53 degrees. Brrrr. hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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