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UNNNNG! Damn - I switched, mid-pregnancy and will no doubt have to pay twice out of pocket as a result. Thank you for the information just the same ... open enrollment was in November, so there's no way I would have seen that coming!
We've had UHC for the past several years. Things have been fine for the most part, but there have been some battles. One was an ER visit. The nurse on their Nurseline told us to take dd to the emergency room, but UHC tried to say it wasn't a true emergency and denied the claim. It took MANY phone calls and letters to supervisor after supervisor to get that one straightened out, but they did eventually cover it. Last year they tried playing a semantics game and tried to deny coverage for a routine preventive screening which was covered under our policy. (I heard this happened to many in our company.) The HR people finally got this one taken care of, but we still had the medical company threating to send the bill to collections, so it was a headache. Just be sure you verify in advance what exactly is covered, etc. If you have to make an ER visit, be sure to take lots of names & notes!
I don't know if it's the insurance company, or the plan, but a good friend of mine had a hard time getting UHC to cover his daughter's broken arm. They kept insisting that the broken arm was a preexisting condition and didn't want to pay for the ER visit.
I have United Health Care here and have been satisfied. Here in NC it's under its its affiliate called Golden Rule. BCBSNC is also good, but United Healthcare is nationwide.
So is BCBS. You can go any doc in the country with a BCBSNC plan as long as the doc you are seeing in the BCBS network. Came from Calif with Blue SHield of California and saw docs here in NC for the same coverage costs.
I've had UHC with two jobs now and have always been satisfied with them, but I've never had anything more than physicals, quick urgentcare visits, a few prescriptions and dental cleanings.
I had UHC for several years and had no problems until my wife and I had major surgery. From that point on it was a nightmare getting them to reimburse the physicians. We switched to BCBS as soon as my employer offered it. It's been so bad that I literally had to call a doctor about a month ago about a nearly year old bill, and UHC still hadn't paid it. I guess my feeling on UHC is that they are ok unless you have a major procedure, and then not so much. Plus, as someone who works with medical billing software on a daily basis, I sympathize with all the doctor's offices on how hard UHC can be to deal with!
Since being in NC (3 years) and being on UHC I've had 3 surgeries (2 minor 1 major) and cancer treatments for the past 1-1/2 years. UHC has been wonderful and the selection of network doctors and facilities has been great!
The only (few) issues that I've encountered were when one of the network doctors or facilities did not abide by their contract with UHC. UHC would deny the claim and they would then bill me. All I would do is call UHC and they would get their resolution team involved and the issue with the provider was resolved (no out of pocket for me except my low copay of $10 or $20 for specialist). My costs for these surgeries, treatments, numerous doctor visits, lab tests and prescriptions have been so minimal. I've also become more aware of which hospitals work better with UHC so I try to go to that hospital instead of the others that forget to get preapproval.
However we had UHC in California and were not as happy because the list of network doctors was small, many referenced on their network list were no longer accepting new patients and of the doctors that were actually accepting new patients most were doctors that received their degrees in other countries. Nothing wrong with that...I just prefer being treated by a doctor that recieved their education here in the US. I never had any surgeries or real medical issues in California (under UHC) so the experience with billing and coverage was minimal.
We obtained UHC upon our move here and are very unhappy. The number of doctors in our area that are both within the network and accepting new patients is very small. One must be very careful, also, to be seen by network doctors and not non-network collegues withing the same practice. At one point, the UHC customer service representative tried to convince me that a doctor working at Prompt Med would be a good choice as my regular physician.
United Health Care can be a great plan. Unlike many bc/bs plans...not everyone takes UHealth so it is good to make sure your md takes them. Also, your coverage really depends on your employer and the deal they strike w/ UHealth. Just because 1 person has a $5 copay with UHealth at Nortel doesn't mean you will have a $5 copay with UHealth at IBM.
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I had a couple of minor and 1 major surgery (hospital overnights) while on UHC and never had a problem.
