Chicago area and the ACA / Obamacare plans (Evanston, Oak Lawn: buying, contractors)

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Land of Lincoln is folding. That was my plan.....

Anyone happy with their Obamacare plan? And happy with their network?

I take it that you're self-employed, or your employer doesn't have a viable plan?

I have heard some good things about the ACA, though, although the expense might vary. I was wondering if there are other hospitals in the Chicago metro area ( besides Northwestern, U of C, and Rush) that might accept certain HMO plans, like perhaps U of I in Chicago, or Evanston Hospital, or a Catholic heath care system, like Resurrection in NW Chicago? I guess I would check out he ACA first, and then look into other HMOs that offer individual plans, even if they don't allow visits/admissions to the "Big 3"...

[Gemini1963]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Land of Lincoln is folding. That was my plan.....

Anyone happy with their Obamacare plan? And happy with their network?

I'm sorry about Land of Lincoln closing up - such a drag for you!

So far, we're fine with Harken Health and their network - though we have not had to put them to any big test yet (we've just had routine physicals and not-unusual medical tests, on a high-deductible plan). If we lived near one of their Health Centers, we would probably be even happier with them; they look pretty good. (One is supposedly opening up in either Evergreen Park or Oak Lawn in the not-too-distant future, which will be handy for us in Beverly.) For now, we've kept our same doctors and the hospitals network is good (we think) if we have an emergency.

If you live near one of their Health Centers, I'd recommend stopping by in person just to get a feel for it (it would be for routine care only, obviously).
https://www.harkenhealth.com/centers/chicago


(The Yelp reviews of the Des Plaines office are terrible but the ones of the West Town office are mostly good:
Harken Health - Medical Centers - West Town - Chicago, IL - Phone Number - Yelp )

[sfcambridge]

Hi Gemini,

Thanks for your follow-up post.

I remember that you wanted one of the big hospitals (Northwestern, U of C) in your network. Are either of them accepting your Harken plan?

I will check you plan out. Thanks.

My current primary care doctor was not in any of the plans except Land of Lincoln when I checked last winter, but I will check in again. It wouldn't be terrible if I had to change, but I do prefer being in the network of one of the major teaching hospitals, in case I ever needed specialized care.

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I take it that you're self-employed, or your employer doesn't have a viable plan?

I have heard some good things about the ACA, though, although the expense might vary. I was wondering if there are other hospitals in the Chicago metro area ( besides Northwestern, U of C, and Rush) that might accept certain HMO plans, like perhaps U of I in Chicago, or Evanston Hospital, or a Catholic heath care system, like Resurrection in NW Chicago? I guess I would check out he ACA first, and then look into other HMOs that offer individual plans, even if they don't allow visits/admissions to the "Big 3"...

Yup, I have to buy my own insurance separately.

So far my experience with the ACA/Obamacare options hasn't been great, although I was/am a big supporter of the concept. It has been very expensive for me due to the higher premiums, very high deductibles that also include medicine expenses. And now I have to switch to my 3rd Obamacare plan in the past 3 years.

[chet everett]

From what has been in the news about Land of Lincoln folding it seems that the problems are not that different than those facing Illinois politicians in general -- Land Of Lincoln Health To Liquidate--Not An Obamacare Problem But A Co Op One | Forbes.com

Whether you're talking about an insurance co-op or the State of Illinois budget, failure to address the real needs for capital ends up hurting real people.

The lesson is that tying one's hopes to future infusions of capitals is losing proposition -- things that are costly today and likely to become even more costly tomorrow! That fundamental fact is apparently something that still escapes too many politicians.

I am sad to say that I know many folks in Illinois that are finding out first hand that the ACA is largely filled with "rainbow colored unicorns" -- whether you are a single mom trying to make it in a high cost of living area, or a older dentist that is trying to plan for the inevitably that you'll need to get your worn out shoulders treated by an orthopedic surgeon, the "high deductible" type coverage that is common with many of the options means you have a big chunk out of your wallet every time your little kid needs to see the pediatrician or an even bigger hit to your retirement if you decide to say yes to surgery -- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/us...t-useless.html

[Gemini1963]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

I remember that you wanted one of the big hospitals (Northwestern, U of C) in your network. Are either of them accepting your Harken plan?

I will check you plan out. Thanks.

I have not actually tried to use my plan at one of the major hospitals, but yes, they are listed as being in the Preferred Network. If you go to this site:

https://www.harkenhealth.com/search

and, under the Places tab, enter your zip code and the term "university" where it says "enter place name," the search results should show many of the major hospitals as being in the "preferred network": Rush, UIC, U of C, and Loyola. If you do that same search with "hospital" as the term, then you'll see Northwestern and Lurie Children's (and much more).

(NOT the best search tool, I'll certainly grant you that.)

[sfcambridge]

Update

I just changed my Obamacare plan to Harken Health, after researching options (thanks Gemini) and being pleasantly surprised by this plan. My new plan started October 1st.

Well.... Bad news. The Tribune posted yesterday that Harkin is dropping all of it's Marketplace plans at the end of the year.

Unbelievable.

I think I am going to have to give up on Obamacare, with so few options remaining. I think I Will try to buy my insurance directly from the insurance companies. It will be more expensive, I suspect..... if it is even an option?

[Gemini1963]

We've gotten the notification from Harken about their withdrawal from the marketplace, BUT they are not pulling out of Illinois, so you can still sign up for their plan outside of the marketplace (which may be okay, if you aren't getting a subsidy anyway).

HOWEVER, they are changing their network in 2017, and it appears that the major hospitals will not be in their network. One of the main reasons we chose them was so that places like Northwestern and University of Chicago would be in-network if we had a health crisis or catastrophe.

So, we'll probably be shopping around AGAIN for 2017. Ugh. We called Harken yesterday, and their 2017 plan is not yet finalized / approved, but when it is, the network information will be available online for review, and then we can make a decision.

Very tedious.

[sfcambridge]

Tedious is the word. This will be my 4th insurance change in 3 years.

Thanks for the info about the change in the Harken network. I was worried about that. Did they mention if RUSH will also leave the network? If there was at least ONE of the big hospitals, it might work. I'll wait for their new network to go up online. And I'm scared to see what the monthly premium might be......

It's crazy..... more and more of us are losing the security of getting health insurance through employers, as more of us are working without benefits/contractors/part time/work for ourselves etc... And now the options are becoming fewer and fewer, and more and more expensive.

I hope those of you with insurance through your work realize how lucky you are.

[MassVt]

I wonder if other hospitals ( the Catholic Resurrection medical centers, Advocate Lutheran, Evanston Hospital, etc) will still be options for you. Individual plans can be expensive, since you're paying the entire premium yourself, but I wonder if there are other HMO options that might still be palatable, even if their referral network doesn't include Rush, U of C or Northwestern. ..