[krischaser]

Hi I have to buy individual health insurance and have quotes from Aetna and Humana. There is a 500 difference in the individual deductibles between the two but with Humana 3 members must meet their deductible before it covers everything and with Aetna only two. I heard that with Aetna that if someone got stitches at the urgent care all you pay is your copay. I dont know if that is true or not. Anyways with Humana you get a 500 dollar credit towards xrays and diagnostic lab work. The prices between the two are equal. I just have three active boys so I want to pick the better of the two. Anyone have any experience with either of these? Thanks

[caspper69]

Originally Posted by krischaser

Hi I have to buy individual health insurance and have quotes from Aetna and Humana. There is a 500 difference in the individual deductibles between the two but with Humana 3 members must meet their deductible before it covers everything and with Aetna only two. I heard that with Aetna that if someone got stitches at the urgent care all you pay is your copay. I dont know if that is true or not. Anyways with Humana you get a 500 dollar credit towards xrays and diagnostic lab work. The prices between the two are equal. I just have three active boys so I want to pick the better of the two. Anyone have any experience with either of these? Thanks

Humana, at least for me, was a nightmare to deal with. We were paying a small fortune for two policies for myself, my girlfriend, and our girls. We also included the premium dental.

They didn't cover anything. And when they did, we got hit with overcharges from our providers (that were on the in-network list), because Humana didn't pay what the providers expected.

If you are in the individual market, you're going to get screwed. I don't want to turn this political, but it's so true. If you are buying on your own, and are self-employed, your best bet is to join your local chamber of commerce and get on their group BCBS plan. It'll cost less and they'll cover more.

If you can get your kids on HIP-Michigan, that is the Rolls-Royce of plans, and they are severely under-enrolled. They've relaxed the standards so much that if you get a nurse practitioner to write a letter that you have asthma, you're covered. For adults, the coverage can't be beat. Low copays, they cover maternity and birth control, along with the other things that Obamacare requires coverage of (yearly physicals, immunizations, yearly paps, etc.)

It's just so hard, as a young family, to justify $800+ per month going out when we consume about $500/year in healthcare. But the biggest problem is that when you go in with no insurance, you get the "off the street" rates for everything, which are often 3-10x as much as what insurance pays the doctors.

I guess it's six of one, half dozen of the other.

I don't have experience with Aetna, so I can't speak to the quality of their coverage, but unless you're in a larger group, expect to deal with much of the same.