switcheroo
New Member
To decide which companies to recommend/select, for individual health insurance, it would help to have data about how good those companies are when a consumer faces a significant health problem. Inexpensive premiums are no good if the insurer doesn't deliver.
For example, if lots of health care providers accept a particular insurance plan, then hopefully the customer would enjoy the option of sticking with a trusted doctor or choosing doctors based on reputation.
As a simple test, I searched for providers near my ZIP code, using both the Anthem and Blue Shield of California websites. For several doctor specialties I tested, Anthem's website listed significantly more doctors than Blue Shield when I selected seemingly equivalent EPO and PPO plans.
But then I played with a search tool ("Powered by Stride Health") provided at the US News & World Report website's health insurance section, and it seemed to suggest that Blue Shield would have far more providers.
So how does a consumer know what to believe?
Other aspects include quality of care and customer service. Reviews on yelp.com and elsewhere suggest that many insurance companies are simply horrible at dealing with their customers. But those reviews are presumably biased; for one thing, angry customers are more likely to think of writing a review than contented customers. Are Consumer Reports' evaluations better, because their sample is more random? Are there other surveys that are even more rigorous?
For an example of why I question Consumer Reports, consider that their magazine's Californian readers give high ratings to Kaiser Permanente. But maybe that's because those readers mostly have experience with Kaiser's primary care, which apparently has been greatly improved. What happens to the unlucky few Kaiser members who need specialists for serious health problems?
Likewise, surveys about the tendency of insurers to deny claims would be very valuable. Does this kind of info even exist?
Quality data would be great for our own personal choice of coverage, and for recommending insurance to people.
I'd love to hear all your thoughts about this. Thanks!
For example, if lots of health care providers accept a particular insurance plan, then hopefully the customer would enjoy the option of sticking with a trusted doctor or choosing doctors based on reputation.
As a simple test, I searched for providers near my ZIP code, using both the Anthem and Blue Shield of California websites. For several doctor specialties I tested, Anthem's website listed significantly more doctors than Blue Shield when I selected seemingly equivalent EPO and PPO plans.
But then I played with a search tool ("Powered by Stride Health") provided at the US News & World Report website's health insurance section, and it seemed to suggest that Blue Shield would have far more providers.
So how does a consumer know what to believe?
Other aspects include quality of care and customer service. Reviews on yelp.com and elsewhere suggest that many insurance companies are simply horrible at dealing with their customers. But those reviews are presumably biased; for one thing, angry customers are more likely to think of writing a review than contented customers. Are Consumer Reports' evaluations better, because their sample is more random? Are there other surveys that are even more rigorous?
For an example of why I question Consumer Reports, consider that their magazine's Californian readers give high ratings to Kaiser Permanente. But maybe that's because those readers mostly have experience with Kaiser's primary care, which apparently has been greatly improved. What happens to the unlucky few Kaiser members who need specialists for serious health problems?
Likewise, surveys about the tendency of insurers to deny claims would be very valuable. Does this kind of info even exist?
Quality data would be great for our own personal choice of coverage, and for recommending insurance to people.
I'd love to hear all your thoughts about this. Thanks!