Aetna

2016 Open Enrollment - Where did my PPO go?

Blue Cross and other Texas insurers are dropping their PPO plans

We're right on the cusp of the 2016 Open Enrollment Period that begins November 1st and we've received hundreds of calls from clients that found shocking news from Blue Cross, Humana, and even United Health stating that their plans are being terminated and they are being moved to an HMO plan!  While many of us are in disbelief, the truth is that all carriers in the Houston market and many other Texas markets won't have an available PPO plan offered by the major carriers.  In the vacuum left by these terminating PPO plans we'll need to examine the HMO network plan design.  While this process can be hard to understand, don't worry, we're here to assist you through this search.

5 Health Insurance Facts You Need To Know Today!

Call volumes are increasing as we get to the last few days of the 2015 Open Enrollment season.  I wanted to provide a few answers to questions we are receiving and wanted to put them in one post.  Can you believe that January is already in the rear view mirror?  We've had several great calls this week and all of them have common themes.  I spoke quite a bit about taxation and the impact changes of income will have on subsidies in last week's post.  If you have questions about these items, please refer to Taxing Questions for 2015.  Let's dive in!

Avoiding Health Insurance Pitfalls - 5 Simple Steps to Get Your Insurance Claim Paid

 

While many clients and friends have now signed up for coverage for 2015 many more are still dealing with the idea that their Blue Cross or Aetna coverage was terminated and they haven't found replacement coverage.  We can help you review the universe of health insurance options and determine which plans would be best for your family.  Contact Us today for quotes and analysis.

For years, Texas Health Design has educated clients to ensure that when they need coverage, they know exactly what to expect and what steps to take to ensure that they don't run into problems getting claims paid.  We often hear from new clients that their past experiences with health insurance companies have been terrible and we feel strongly that many of their issues result from a lack of understanding of their specific policy and a broader knowledge of "how things work" with insurance.  After working with insurance companies for more than a decade, we've seen random, crazy, and illogical denials, but more often, we see issues where clients fail to take simple steps to avoid problems.  The goal of this brief post is to ensure that we know basic steps to get the most out of our coverage.

5 Reasons To Use An Expert Health Insurance Agent (Texas Health Design)

 

I think all of us fall into the trap of believing that every product or service can be commoditized and packaged into an easy to understand, easy to purchase widget where price is the only consideration.  The internet has been wonderful in the sense that we can now easily compare prices and read reviews and buy from the comfort of our living room while watching television and taking a phone call.  Unfortunately, we've seen in the last several weeks several instances that have reminded us that easy price searches are not enough and health insurance is not a commodity.  Health insurance shoppers need better tools to examine plan choices and must be able to rely on an expert source to answer specific questions that apply to their situation.  The reality is that our busy lives don't have room for carving out hours to research health plans on our own or determining whether a doctor is in one network or another.  When we do take time to shop for health coverage during this open enrollment period, insurance shoppers want to ensure they get quick responses, comprehensive information, and answers to specific personal questions.