health insurance

[breathe in]

I'm in atlanta and will be one of the ones losing my BCBS health insurance. My agent says i have basically 4 options.

1. ambetter
2. keiser
3. ministry insurance
4. self employed company insurance.

As i understand, ambetter runs ga's medicare/caid, so that kinda makes me think it's a mess with medicare/caid and pvt insurance and gov't input?

With keiser, I would have to leave all my Dr.s ( some i've been with > 20 yrs) and go with Keiser Dr.s.

Ministry doesn't appeal to me. Agent also said they have pretty stringent requirements as to how healthy you are and any pre-existing conditions to be able to qualify.

Which leads to my questions. I am self employed, but I am a sole proprietor. Agent said I could go down and get a biz license and put my wife as a partner and then would
qualify . Problem is, I'm not married. Could I add my brother (lives in Colorado) or my mom (lives in fla) or one of my dogs who lives here in ga?

He said I only need one person to qualify as a company. Do they need to be a partner or would acting as an employee qualify?

I'm ready to say screw it and go back to having no insurance and be self pay. Though, the other day I made an appt with a Dr. I haven't seen in 4 years. They said they would see me because i was a previous pt, but they are not taking self pay patients anymore??? You can't make this stuff up. I wonder if this is now becoming a trend with all Dr.s?

Thanks for reading; any input would be appreciated.

 

[NOYDB]

Your Dr. is not the one making rules about who or what to accept. The vast majority of Dr.s these days have a third party co managing their office. Or the third party that manages the billing for the hospital they are affiliated with. Plus your Dr. has to meet requirements of their insurance co in order to keep running.

You are not just dealing with your Dr. but possibly several cos to receive an appointment.

If you don't plan to acquire a wife. Pick a close friend to partner with. Get everything in writing.

 

[breathe in]

Your Dr. is not the one making rules about who or what to accept. The vast majority of Dr.s these days have a third party co managing their office. Or the third party that manages the billing for the hospital they are affiliated with. Plus your Dr. has to meet requirements of their insurance co in order to keep running.

You are not just dealing with your Dr. but possibly several cos to receive an appointment.

If you don't plan to acquire a wife. Pick a close friend to partner with. Get everything in writing.

thanks. doing research online there are dr's offices that say on their website, we don't take x or y insurance. or we take x insurance, but only a & b policies. Or, they don't take any insurance off the exchange, period.

i talked to the agent again this am and he suggested i talk to a cpa or similar. I guess i need to know how to set up a biz with someone who is basically a "silent partner", and not be on the payroll, if possible?? Or...?

any cpa's or similar that can offer advice or can guide me, or know someone, it would be appreciated. pm if necessary.

 

[bronikjb]

I am in the same spot, about to get dumped by BC/CensoredCensored but nearing Medicare age. The funny thing is I am getting dumped in one mailing from the Blues and the next day they are trying to sell me their Medicare Supplement. Any chance this big freezing cold front later this week is going as far as Hades?
When I saw my doc a couple weeks ago he said Kaiser was enrolling a lot of private docs into their panels in order to accommodate new customers losing their Blues policies. I would check with your docs to see if they are going to start being able
to see Kaiser patients. Unfortunate for me I live too far outside Atlanta to enroll in Kaiser.
Fortunately a local agent somehow arranged for us to latch onto a Cigna network. Other than that we would go the religious sharing network, which this agent uses for his own family and recommends.
Good luck.

 

[work2play2]

I'm tuning in here....

Have you checked on the prices for the self employed insurance you are looking into? How many people would you be insuring?

I honestly don't know how all this will end but I can tell you I think about it every day

 

[bnew17]

Be glad you live in Atlanta. The rest of us only have 1 option,,,,BCBS

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Before anyone goes with Ambetter, be sure that you know which doctors take it and which don't. I had a difficult time finding doctors who would take it, luckily the Saint Mary's network here in Athens does.

Watch out for BCBS as well and be sure that you getting what you think you are paying for. They ain't what they used to be. I know mine is crap for what I'm paying. If it goes up another $100 a month, I'm going to put the money I'm now into an HSA and just self-pay, as long as I can find doctors who will allow it.

 

[Artfuldodger]

Exactly what type of policies is BCBS dumping in those counties? Affordable Healthcare policies or all healthcare policies?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Exactly what type of policies is BCBS dumping in those counties? Affordable Healthcare policies or all healthcare policies?

In Clarke County and Oconee County, Ambetter is the only company on the Marketplace for ACA policies and from what understand BCBS is not offering individual policies at all.

 

[breathe in]

thanks to all who replied.

talked to another agent and am gonna try the ministry insurance this year and see how it goes. i'm a little apprehensive but we decided it was the best option at this time.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

thanks to all who replied.

talked to another agent and am gonna try the ministry insurance this year and see how it goes. i'm a little apprehensive but we decided it was the best option at this time.

I signed up for my work provided insurance for 2018 because it's the best deal I could find, even though it's really crappy insurance (BCBS) for what I'm paying.

If things remain the way they are now, in 2019 I'll likely drop my work provided insurance and just put the money into an HSA or even a regular savings account. It doesn't make sense for me to pay what I'm paying for the coverage I get.

 

[steeleagle]

I signed up for my work provided insurance for 2018 because it's the best deal I could find, even though it's really crappy insurance (BCBS) for what I'm paying.

If things remain the way they are now, in 2019 I'll likely drop my work provided insurance and just put the money into an HSA or even a regular savings account. It doesn't make sense for me to pay what I'm paying for the coverage I get.

You cannot make contributions to a HSA unless you have a high deductible health plan.....IE: You will need to purchase insurance.