r/HealthInsurance • u/reddevine • Dec 04 '24

Plan Choice Suggestions UHC as bad as everyone is saying?

I own my own SMALL company. I had Humana and the health insurance policy was deleted and no longer offered. My insurance agent hooked me up with a plan from UHC. For six people it’s a little over $6,000. A month. With the event this morning I am reading terrible reviews of UHC that is completely freaking me out. Are they really that bad? Should I look elsewhere and if so where? What company is less on the evil side? I’m not looking for anyone to quote me pricing, I’m looking for those in the industry which companies they would want based on their dealings.

Thanks for any insight!

I wasn’t thrilled with Humana either, ER visit for a tick bite cost me $3,000. and I was never in a hospital bed or seen by an actual doctor.

Edit: Well I just noticed that Anthem BCBS is not going to cover anesthesia if the surgery goes into overtime basically in my state. Everything I’m reading since yesterday is just appalling.

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u/Johnnyg150 Dec 08 '24

Yep, I'm originally from IL and lived in 4 other states - not once did it occur to me that there could be poor perceptions of BCBS. Only issue I've had with BCBSIL is that the HMO medical groups each carve out mental health independently. Absolute nightmare for members, and it's not disclosed anywhere at all. During the brief time I was in it mine used Magellan, and they were actually lovely to work with, but some of these other ones- my goodness. Just fly by night random companies with zero information or network options.

I guess now I'm curious what those members/providers prefer instead? Is Cigna like phenomenal in Alabama or something? I know people love KP where it exists, but that level of extreme managed care seems no different than UHC to me lol.

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u/ThrowAwayColor2023 Dec 08 '24

Thanks for sharing! I’ve thankfully had access to PPO plans as a patient/customer. I wouldn’t sign up for an HMO unless I had no other choice.

I looked at all of this through the lens of a provider (crunching numbers on becoming a therapist), and the intel from people in the field was eye-opening. I want to know why the credentialing and reimbursement amount process is allowed to be a total black box. These insurance companies are screwing every single entity they engage with!

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u/Johnnyg150 Dec 08 '24

Our practice has a policy of accepting all insurance (except for HMOs we can't reasonably join) and refuses to accept cash unless it's OON U&C while we're waiting for the credentialing process to happen. We feel it's unethical to allow patients to pay us cash when they have insurance that could be paying, and tbh the cash paying patients we took at first just have unrealistic goals and expectations for their money.

Takes an unbelievable amount of work to juggle all the payors and keep them happy though. They all have different portals and logins and rules. And you have to make it clear there's zero financial assistance beyond tolerating their crappy insurance

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u/ThrowAwayColor2023 Dec 08 '24

Only charging U&C for OON services is very generous compared to what I’ve experienced. That’s very kind of the practice owners.

I ended up paying over $4000 out of pocket for an OON autism assessment and have conflicting feelings about the provider’s approach to billing. I’m currently financially privileged enough to absorb that cost, but I know that many, if not most, undiagnosed adult neurodivergent folks are not so lucky.