Aetna or United or BCBS - which one? (ob-gyn, insurance)

[Shet]

We live in Hudson County but in an area which borders Bergen and Essex county.

We have three options for medical insurance through the employer: Aetna, United Health Care and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Could you share your opinions about these companies? Which one has more complaints or have issues with being accepted by docs/hospitals?

All tips/info welcome.

[Whoelsebutcharles]

Originally Posted by Shet

We live in Hudson County but in an area which borders Bergen and Essex county.

We have three options for medical insurance through the employer: Aetna, United Health Care and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Could you share your opinions about these companies? Which one has more complaints or have issues with being accepted by docs/hospitals?

All tips/info welcome.

Go with BCBS. I have Aetna now due to work benefits and nobody takes it and they don't cover anything. Robert Wood doesn't even take Aetna. I used to have BCBS which was much better.

[timneh5]

Originally Posted by Whoelsebutcharles

Go with BCBS. I have Aetna now due to work benefits and nobody takes it and they don't cover anything. Robert Wood doesn't even take Aetna. I used to have BCBS which was much better.

I went onto the AETNA site and Robert Wood does accept AETNA insurance. There are many plans through AETNA; maybe Robert Wood doesn't accept all of the options listed under AETNA insurance.

[Greyhnd]

DH has had Aetna for years (in NJ and now TN). We are pretty happy with them and never had any trouble with providers being in network. Definitely do not like Cigna, feel drs in NJ kept dropping them. I've had UHC in the past also though can't recall how they were.

[BobKovacs]

We had both United Healthcare and BCBS while living in NJ, and both were fine. They were both accepted pretty much anywhere, with every doc we wanted to see being part of the network, and we never had any issues with payment. Can't comment on AETNA other than to say that they were often on the list of "non-accepted" insurance providers that was posted in many doctors' reception areas.

[RhysNJ]

What you really need to do is check with all of the doctors you use, or plan to use, and see which ones are in which carrier networks, which you can do online. Then call them to see if they have any issues with any of them, or plan to drop out of any of them, which goes on frequently. They will tell you which ones they have had the most problems with.

Also, be very careful with each company. They all offer different coverage plans, and some have different provider networks. We recently changed from Horizon PPO to Horizon Direct Access because of an obscene rate increase, and had to sever our relationship with two of our doctors because they refuse to participate in the latter. You need to be very specific on which plans are being offered and which networks you'll end up having to us, and make sure that your doctors of choice will participate.

Once you choose, if you go for treatment you have to make very sure that any provider involved - lab work, surgicenter, or the host of other subcontractors that these doctors now use -- are also in your network, or you'll pay out of pocket. Anesthesiologists are famous for not participating, and you'll get the surprise of your life when the bills come in.

Rhys

[Shet]

OP here. Thanks for everyone's replies. I am striking out Aetna since out of pocket is much more.

The deductibles (and all else) is exactly the same between BCBS and UHC. Which would you choose (UHC or BCBS) if the only major expense or medical procedure foreseen is pregnancy related (and that too next year maybe).

UHC website has more Ob-Gyn docs in our areas while BCBS has more family practice docs in our areas. Both are almost similar when it comes to hospitals covered with UHC having just a little bit more.

BCBS seems to be a conglomeration of different insurance companies whereas UHC seems to be a single company. Does that matter? Also, BCBS NJ website does not list NY docs whereas UHC website does.

[lov403]

i dropped BCBS a few years back b/c they changed what they covered and in 2005 they stopped covering annual physicals and for hospital coverage they scaled back from 100% to 80% and I knew we wanted to get pregnant, so that made me switch. I found out because my employer gave me a comparision chart of changes that were going into effect for '05/'06. Ask your HR person if they have one. Also what does each company cover for baby exams? My pedi's office has a lot of not covered by BCBS signs up in the office.

[annaegel]

I have had Aetna and United. I don't like Aetna as much as United. However, I found many doctors were dropping United because they weren't paying the doctors. I don't know about BCBS.

[Irish Eyes]

I haven't had any problems with UHC. There is also a calculator on their website that will tell you what you might pay OOP for delivery, if that helps you decide.