Health insurance

[luvthewarmth]

Making our home in Wolfeboro our primary residence. We have to give up our health insurance in CT that I have been carrying, and my husband is self-employed. Any recommendations for plans or participating hospitals and doctors we should consider? Anyone familiar with the exchanges through the ACA?

[Lakegeezer]

There aren't many options for healthcare plans in NH. Anthem is the most popular, but all of its plans use in-state doctors for its in-network claims. You can't pick a doctor in Boston, for example. Emergencies are covered nationwide. Maine Community is about 20% more expensive (in my case) and has a nationwide network of doctors. However, they announced that they will stop offering coverage in NH as of next year, and may stop as early as this week, when the open enrollment ends. Other options are either way more expensive or very limited in their network of doctors.

Also of note, if you look at plans outside the healthcare.gov exchange (NH has no exchange), you will find plans with similar benefits are more expensive - so it is cheaper to just go with the federal exchange, bite the bullet and hope you don't get sick.

[luvthewarmth]

Lake.. Thank you for the information. It is so sad that healthcare is such a worry and financial burden these days. I will continue to investigate our options.

[dpg]

Looking at your user name I'm surprised your calling NH home. :D

[8gv]

Wifey and I just did this.

On the NH healthcare exchange site we were able to see many plans.

We first eliminated companies with which we had no familiarity.
Next we compared the types of plans, copays and deductibles.
The last step was to see who had the most and "best" doctors in their network.

We decided on Anthem BCBS which coincidently was our carrier in CT.

One of our concerns was how any pre-existing conditions might affect our cost.
The web site gives an estimated cost and suggests that the real cost may be different based on your details. We braced for the worst possible impact of our imperfect health status.

The difference was about $1.

The whole experience was easy.

Our plan covers only in network providers. If I get sick on a trip, just shoot me!

[Flylady]

8GV is correct. I have spent the better part of December exploring all options as I learned the hard way that things are not always as they seem. I have the added need to ensure that my plan would cover me in NH and CA! Took out a NH policy under ACA in 2015. However went to my doctor while in CA. Anthem Blue Cross won't pay, even though the doctor is in network under the CA plans. Got the royal run round from them and am still fighting with them as under their "bluecard" the CA visit should be covered.
So for 2016 I switched to BCBS PPO as the plan is most flexable and blue card applies throughout the US. It is cheaper to use my CA doctors for annual exams, and use NH doctors in case of injury or illness. Also their policy best fit my needs at an affordable price.
So the best plan is to look within the exchange and then go out of the exchange to see the differences, then pick what is best for you. My experience with the exchange in NH was that most of the people you speak to on the phone are not very well trained and needed to refer to a Q & A guide for almost every question I asked. They also told me to do nothing and I would be dropped from the exchange in 2016. Learned that was incorrect too!

[luvthewarmth]

Thank you all for your replies. It is so daunting to weed through all the options, coverage and prices. We would like to have coverage if we are in NH, in CT visiting the children or in FL for the winter (hence the name dpg, I don't do winters very well). Flylady, I will look into the BCBS PPO if it is that flexible coverage in many states. Thanks again.

[Lakegeezer]

So for 2016 I switched to BCBS PPO as the plan is most flexable and blue card applies throughout the US. It is cheaper to use my CA doctors for annual exams, and use NH doctors in case of injury or illness. Also their policy best fit my needs at an affordable price.Were you able to buy this as a private person, or was it through a company? When I looked, the PPO option appeared to be only available to businesses, and the business has to be bigger than a two person partnership.

As for concerns about pre-existing conditions, the only one I ran into was age, and that gets worse every year. The ACA law eliminated, for the most part, pricing or denying coverage based on pre-conditions.

[Cal-to-NH]

Hi . As described before, our retirement is looming in 2017 and I have looked at the healthcare exchange for NH myself. In my case it would be out of the normal calendar-year exchange time - it would be the case where during the year we lose our insurance (I plan on retiring June of 2017). Harvard/Pilgrim is the only provider in this case.... It's good to know that there are more choices if you hit the annual sign-up. I've had Anthem before and it's OK....

By the way, using on-line Cost-of-Living calculators for address changes in the United States (I've used 7 different ones) - when moving from San Diego to the Wolfboro/Tuftonboro/Moultonborough/Alton area I get between 27% - 34% Cost-Of-living improvement overall - no surprise there. Interestingly, however, in EVERY calculator the healthcare cost is higher in NH. I fully expected the energy cost to be higher, but this was the only other cost on the list that was higher other than energy. It ranged from a low of 3% to a high of 11% in every calculator. When you read on-line for the "healthiest states in America", New Hampshire comes-up in the top ten in every one - and in some cases it is in the top three.
See:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/13/most-healthy-states_n_6320630.html

http://www.americashealthrankings.org/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/healthiest-state-rankings_n_4412574.html

When all is considered, it seems strange to me why NH should be higher in healthcare costs.

Has anyone else noticed this and/or have any theories as to why this is the case?

[tis]

Having a business and shopping insurance every year for the company, I can tell you when health insurance got high in NH and that was when the state started mandating coverage. At that point we had a lot less choices as insurers left the state.

[phoenix]

If one is eligible for Medicare all part F plans will cover you anywhere in the country as long as the dr or hospital takes Medicare . By good friend also took anthem and he studies the fine details of everything

[8gv]

*******UPDATE*******

After a bout of health care coverage paranoia that kept me up last night,
I decided to look into our plan a little deeper.

Our plan is not a multi state plan so I was concerned about the cost implications of having a health care emergency such as an appendicitis in FL or if I crashed my dirt bike in the Rocky Mountains.

As it turns out, Anthem BCBS told me that emergency care is covered. They also told me that the coverage would mirror what my coverage is at home.

So...no routine doctor visits away from NH but when it really goes south on us, if we are down south (or elsewhere) they will cover it.

[Patiently Watching]

The choices in NH for insurance as already discussed are quite limited - more so since insurance was mandated.
Our policy has gone up considerably over the past 3 years, while our coverage has declined...
As for actual care - I would recommend finding a doctor affiliated with Frisbie, Wentworth-Douglas or Dartmouth; Huggins is a disaster and the turn-over of management and care providers is basically non-stop there.

[rsmlp]

Of course the REASON NH health insurance is so egregiously expensive is because health insurance companies can't compete across state lines which is insane. We have anthem for three people and without subsidies pay over $1100 a month with a family deductible of over $10,000. This was one of their least expensive options. Basically, catastrophe insurance costing us $1100/mo. thank you Obama.

[Happy Gourmand]

*******UPDATE*******

After a bout of health care coverage paranoia that kept me up last night,
I decided to look into our plan a little deeper.

Our plan is not a multi state plan so I was concerned about the cost implications of having a health care emergency such as an appendicitis in FL or if I crashed my dirt bike in the Rocky Mountains.

As it turns out, Anthem BCBS told me that emergency care is covered. They also told me that the coverage would mirror what my coverage is at home.

So...no routine doctor visits away from NH but when it really goes south on us, if we are down south (or elsewhere) they will cover it.
Does this include "Urgent Care" at one of this type facility?

[Cal-to-NH]

Hi folks:

As has been pointed out a national insurance like Anthem is good if you are spending time outside of NH. My daughter was covered under my California Anthem before she turned 26 - and she has lived in Boston since college. Any of the "blue" doctors, facilities and hospitals will recognize any Anthem regardless of the state it was issued in. I imagine that Cigna, Humana, and Aetna do the same but I don't see those folks serving NH. After living for 4 years up in Hanover, I also agree that the Dartmouth Hitchcock Doctors are first-rate, but a way to drive for sure... By the way when you're not signing-up during the typical enrollment period, to cover two adults and one dependent child the cost was $1,700 a month. Not looking forward to that one when it hits next year!

[8gv]

Does this include "Urgent Care" at one of this type facility?

While I did not ask that specific question, the folks (yes, I called twice to get consensus) on the phone at Anthem referred to "Emergency Room".

[Happy Gourmand]

Unfortunately, this is typical of our screwed up healthcare system. Get a cut on your finger out of state and you have to go to the ER for treatment rather than an urgent care facility.

[Flylady]

Yes, my Blue Shield of California is private directly through their company. Sorry I was not more specific as now looking at both insurance cards, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is the NH exchange name. I changed to the later during open enrollment. Definitely it cost less for insurance in CA than NH. My guess is there are a lot more carriers in CA competing for business. Even though my registered address is in NH, I spend at least 5 months in CA and they never asked for any verification of address since I am not using the exchange.

[rsmlp]

Yes, my Blue Shield of California is private directly through their company. Sorry I was not more specific as now looking at both insurance cards, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is the NH exchange name. I changed to the later during open enrollment. Definitely it cost less for insurance in CA than NH. My guess is there are a lot more carriers in CA competing for business. Even though my registered address is in NH, I spend at least 5 months in CA and they never asked for any verification of address since I am not using the exchange.

I'm not sure about broadcasting this in a public forum.

[SteveA]

Lake.. Thank you for the information. It is so sad that healthcare is such a worry and financial burden these days. I will continue to investigate our options.

You need to vote for Berni! Medicare for all is his plan! It sure would tick off all of the big insurance companies. ;)

[rsmlp]

You need to vote for Berni! Medicare for all is his plan! It sure would tick off all of the big insurance companies. ;)

Yes! And "free" college education and "free" housing and only the wealthy will pay! UTOPIA!

[christo1]

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money [to spend]."

Margaret Thatcher

[secondcurve]

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money [to spend]."

Margaret Thatcher

Christo1: Spot on buddy. You are obviously a smart guy/gal. Bernie would be a disaster for this country. Why can't folks understand this?