I am unhappy with the lack of choice I have with my health insurance. As an international student studying business in the United States, the health insurance I purchased through my university provides me with a plan that is very different from a close friend of mine who gets her insurance through her job. For example, my insurance gives me 10 visits of therapy care a year with a psychologist, whereas my friend gets unlimited therapy with her plan. This is because my friend’s insurance plan gives the therapist the ability to make the decision of how long a patient needs to be seeing him/her, whereas my plan already made that decision for me ahead of time. I didn’t have a choice in being able to review different plans to obtain more therapy (since mental health coverage is necessary for me) and as a consumer of American healthcare I expected to have been given more choice in options for health insurance, especially since it’s a product that is purchased and sold. This makes it even more important since access to healthcare in the U.S. is through insurance.
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I received a bill in the mail for $97 for ambulance services. The balance was associated for use of a pulse oximeter. I recalled that the one on-board couldn’t be used because they didn't have one available for a baby - yet it was on the bill. When calling insurance, they said it was coded as life support, so things get lumped into one code, whether they used it or not. personally, I do not like that I am paying for something I didn’t get and then be forced to pay higher premiums every year for wasted expenses like this AND be forced to pay this bill. Insurance companies get double the money. I have no choice when it comes to choosing my health insurance. My employer only provides me one health plan plan and I am forced to use that one - even though I am not a fan of that option - because I am not allowed by law to purchase on my state exchange since I am offered a health plan through my job and I do not qualify for Medicaid. I feel as if my choices and options as a healthcare consumer have been stripped away from me. I was basically given a health plan I needed to buy or be forced to pay a tax. I'm on Florida Medicaid and just had a baby. After giving birth, Medicaid gave my daughter a United Healthcare Medicaid plan by default because that is what I have, even though I specifically asked them to, and filled out the paper for, to add her to StayWell because her current pediatrician that I like doesn't take United. Medicaid told me that I cannot simply just change her to Wellcare immediately, but instead I must wait a month. My newborn daughter must see the doctor sooner for her first after coming home visit because she had jaundice as slow weight gain in the hospital. Unfortunately, I have to wait a month till her WellCare insurance kicks in unless I find a new pediatrician temporarily, or not take my daughter to her 1 week followup doctor appointment as a newborn. When I call Medicaid to insist this is ludicrous, they agree with me but say it's a system problem due to the way their process is set up and no manager can fix it. She must wait 30 days." |
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