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As a new Duke employee, I'm trying to choose between the various health insurance options. Does anyone have any feedback or experience with
Duke Select HMO (administered by Wellpath) or Blue Care HMO (administered by Blue Cross)? The coverage looks very similar, so the choice will likely boil down to monthly cost, availability of doctors, customer service, etc. Coverage will be for my spouse and me and our toddler -- all of us pretty healthy. Thanks in advance for your input!
I have had Duke Select for years, and have been very happy with it. Our copays are $15 for a regular visit or $35 copay for urgent care or a specialist. Well child checks are free through age 2 I believe. I pay $150 for an ER visit (which is waived if you are admitted) and only $350 for any hospital stay. This insurance has served my family very well.
I have had Duke Select for years, and have been very happy with it. Our copays are $15 for a regular visit or $35 copay for urgent care or a specialist. Well child checks are free through age 2 I believe. I pay $150 for an ER visit (which is waived if you are admitted) and only $350 for any hospital stay. This insurance has served my family very well.
Big question is where do you live? If you live in Durham, and are willing to see docs located in Durham County, then the Duke Select is fine.
If you live outside of Durham (Chapel Hill, Wake County), then your wife will have to schlep the kids to durham everytime they need to see a doctor. In this case, the blue care is much better.
They are very comparable as far as benefits go, just you pay an extra premium for Blue Care to include docs outside the Duke system.
We will live in Durham. I had heard that primary care docs were in short supply in the triangle, but wasn't sure if that was a problem for Duke Select HMO members.
We will live in Durham. I had heard that primary care docs were in short supply in the triangle, but wasn't sure if that was a problem for Duke Select HMO members.
I have not found that to be a problem, even when I lived in Wake Forest, I still saw someone locally (meaning I didn't have to drive to Durham). I am currently seeing quite a few specialists, have some very expensive prescriptions (which require pre-authorization and they have approved without an issue) and have no complaints at all with the insurance.... Could be free, but I guess that might be asking just a little too much....
I have had Duke Select insurance for over 5 years and have been very happy with it. Have not had any trouble finding a doctor to go to. You are able to see docs throughout the Triangle, not just in Durham. If you do a lot of traveling for work though, I would recommend you pay the higher premiums to go with Blue Cross so you aren't limited to docs in this region.
I love my Duke Select, the coverage is great. If you are living outside Durham, however, your providers will be limited unless you don't mind seeing doctors in Durham. If you are outside Durham and want local providers, I would go with Duke Options.
I have had Duke Select for years, and have been very happy with it. Our copays are $15 for a regular visit or $35 copay for urgent care or a specialist. Well child checks are free through age 2 I believe. I pay $150 for an ER visit (which is waived if you are admitted) and only $350 for any hospital stay. This insurance has served my family very well.
Agree! DH and I both have Duke Select. We're quite happy. We live in Cary and there is a Duke Urgent Care/Primary care that opened in Morrisville last November. The plan is very good and quite cost effective.
I have to disagree with some of the other posters. I have Duke Select and don't love it. I used to have BCBS in TX and thought the coverage was much better. The vision care is not great (one eye exam a year, one set of lenses per year, but new frames only every 2 years. With contacts, I only got 1/2 year supply????) The extra dental is decent though. I've lived in NC for 2 years and have had trouble finding a primary care doctor through the Duke system. (I'm not sure if it would make a big difference with BCBS though...) Duke has a phone number you can call to find out which docs are accepting new patients, but whenever I call the docs they recommend, the docs are actually NOT accepting new patients. I guess their database is not kept up-to-date. It is, however, easy to find specialists and I've been happy with them. Just my two cents...
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Duke Select
Duke Select
