The topic of health care and medical coverage came up this last Saturday when meeting with my colleagues in a coaches’ mastermind group. All of us are self-employed. Half of us has had some significant health issue to deal with this year. Try to picture this motley group.
- One was walking slowly with the use of a cane, required for post knee surgery (she also just underwent breast reconstruction surgery, her last treatment post breast cancer)
- Another had her arm in a sling after her third major surgery on her shoulder
- Another was doing ok, now several weeks post hernia surgery
- And there I was, with my drippy eye, administering drops every 2 hours to fight some unnamed infection
- 3 well individuals were in attendance…
I share the following information with you in case it would benefit even one member of our community.
One of my comrades mentioned that she’d been paying $1100/month for her coverage with Blue Cross. That’s a huge chunk of change, even for someone doing well in her business.
She told us she’d just signed up with a health care network called Beech Street (a Viant Network) for $199/month. She responded to a one-day offer to receive a discount on her coverage. So she investigated, decided it was worth trying (to potentially save $9600/year) for the administrative fee of $125 to get started. She has not yet canceled her Blue Cross coverage, and is using the initial 10-day period to read the fine print, but she’s hopeful. Here are some of the specifics she shared with me:
- PPO coverage
- $25 doctor visits
- 80% doctors outside network
- 100% of hospital expenses up to $65,000
- Nationwide PPO A rated
I asked her about pre-existing conditions. She said it’s not an issue. They only asked for medical history for the past 6 months, about which she was honest, and about her medications.
I asked about the monthly rate without the special offer price. She thought just $230/month.
NOTE: this post does not constitute endorsement of this service or product, nor a promise of the same outcome. As always, investigate any opportunity fully, using your own research and judgment.
To your health,
Joan
P.S. I’ll check in with my comrade in a couple of weeks to find out about her final decision.
I’ve was denied benefits in jobs because of a pre existing condition (MS) and I was lucky my husband (small business) has decent coverage. But as the coverage gets worse over the years, and the cost goes up, I find myself increasingly frustrated by my expectations and the reality of what’s out there. I wonder if other people have heard of “deals” like you mention here, Joan?
Rosalind, wow. I’d not been denied benefits when employed.
I, like you, have found drawbacks to anything I’ve uncovered that might look like an answer, either because of high rates or insufficient benefits. I’ve gotten used to “too good to be true” when it comes to medical insurance.
If I were still paying the $721/month for my medical insurance that I was paying a couple of years ago, I’d have tried Beech Street. I will post about this again in a couple of weeks to find out what my friend determined after reading the fine print.
Joan
prostate health Google health Google anxiety
Any updates on whether Beech Street was too good to be true or a real deal?
Kristin, thanks for your follow-up note. I’ve sent an email to the person who told me about it if she did go with them, and if so, what her experience has been. I know she’s had medical issues since this post so if she is with them, I’ll post her results.
Joan
Hi Joan,
I’m wondering if you ever heard back from your friend. I am in the position of paying over $900/mo to cover myself, my husband and my daughter. I came across Beech Street and it would only be $589/mo as opposed to $900 but I am in the “too good to be true” worried mode myself. I didn’t like that when I called the sales rep back the recording didn’t identify the name of the business and when I pressed in his extension and he answered he simply said, “Hello?” and also did not give me his last name, only first. I’ve been searching online to see if I can find any customer reviews and I’m coming up empty. Any info. you can post here would be great!
Thanks,
Susan