We are searching for health insurance for a family of five (two
adults, three teens) in New York State. In these days of managed care,
the emphasis across the board is for assembly-line treatment of
patients, tightly controlled costs, limitations on coverage, and low
or no deductibles after a small co-pay.
Our goal is to find the opposite kind of plan: something with a really
HIGH deductible that would only be used when we REALLY need it...but
then we want sky-is-the-limit coverage, and no second-guessing as to
who we use and how much they charge. Within any kind of reason, price
is no object for the policy. Think of the Amex "platinum card" of
health plans.
The answer I'm looking for will contain contact information for the
insurer, the name and description of the plan, details on its
coverage, and a rough idea of its premium. More that one plan would be
even better. I'm already familiar with all the usual suspects (Oxford,
Aetna US Healthcare, HIP, etc.) so I think that if there is indeed a
plan like this out there, it will be from a smaller company with a
niche clientele. |
Request for Question Clarification by
larre-ga
on
01 Oct 2002 00:01 PDT
I have located several plans that appear to meet your requirements,
however, eligibility is determined by zip code. Most of these plans
provide coverage to a selected area of the state, for instance "26
eastern counties" or "upstate". Also, premiums are determined by
location, and vary widely - to provide a reasonable estimate of
premiums, the zip code would be helpful. If you don't wish to give
that much personal information, at the very least, we'll need to know
your county of residence.
=l=
|
Clarification of Question by
yorker-ga
on
01 Oct 2002 06:22 PDT
I'm in New York City, Manhattan, zip code 10128. Please keep in mind
that the goal here is to find a plan with the largest, most liberal,
un-capped benefits in the event of a major problem, in exchange for
accepting very large deductibles and effectively writing off the
ability to use it for coverage of regular, day-to-day, medical issues,
thanks.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
larre-ga
on
01 Oct 2002 13:05 PDT
I've located two possibilities for coverage in your location. In order
to provide estimated premium quotes, there would need to be an
exchange of personal information though the Google Answers service, a
practice which is not permitted by the Google Answers Terms of
Service. The best I can do is provide reliable estimates of high and
low premiums for similar, aggregate coverage for the area through a
secondary source. Is this acceptable as a substitute?
=l=
|
Clarification of Question by
yorker-ga
on
01 Oct 2002 14:15 PDT
I don't expect an actual quote, so estimates are fine for the premium.
But I do need the specifics on the company, plan name, benefits, etc.
|
Clarification of Question by
yorker-ga
on
01 Oct 2002 16:21 PDT
larre- Thanks for all your efforts. While I agree that what you've dug
up is not really enough to consider the question answered, at least it
will provide a good start for my own researches. As such, I would like
to pay something for your time, and $25 feels about right to me. How
would I go about doing this?
|
Request for Question Clarification by
larre-ga
on
01 Oct 2002 16:44 PDT
I'm happy to help out. I wish more information was publicly available,
however, I believe you'll be just as well served by eliminating a
middleman from this point in the search. I'm pretty confident one or
both of these insurers will be able to offer a plan that meets your
requirements. Though all the way across country (California), my
daughter is covered under a similar plan by her father.
Let's see... Close (cancel) this original question. Post a new
question, directed to my attention, referencing Question 71041, in the
new amount. That should cover it.
Thank you.
=l=
|
Short of posing as a legitimate customer within the coverage area, I'm
unable to obtain full plan information for you, so I'll post the
information I have gathered as a Comment, rather than an Answer.
Researchers are not compensated, nor are Google Answer's customers
charged (except for the $0.50 listing fee) for Comments.
There are at least two sources for High Deductible Health Insurance
available to you in New York City. They are:
Empire BlueCross BlueShield
11 W. 42nd St
New York, N.Y. 10036
Telephone: 1-212-476-1000
Fax: 1-212-476-1281
Insurance Product: Indemnity
http://www.empireblue.com/about_empire/plans_services/indemnity.shtml
New York Life - Health and Disability
High Deductible Insurance
http://www.newyorklife.com/NYL2/Category/0,1233,10602,00.html
Contact form:
http://www.newyorklife.com/genreq02/
Both deductibles and coinsurance payments, and therefore premiums, are
variable, depending upon the exact plan selected. Plans can be
coordinated with a Medical Savings Account.
For premium estimates, you may examine the following document provided
by the New York State Insurance Department. Appendix 3 and Appendix 4
(document pages 62-65) provide premium for a non-managed plan,
in-network premium comparisons by geographic areas, and a listing of
all health insurance companies licensed in the State of New York. The
document is offered in Adobe .pdf format, and requires Acrobat Reader.
New York State Insurance Department
2002 New York Consumer Guide to Health Insurance Introduction
http://www.empireblue.com/about_empire/plans_services/indemnity.shtml
2002 New York Consumer Guide to Health Insurance
http://www.ins.state.ny.us/acrobat/hg2002.pdf
Google search terms:
health insurance "cadillac coverage"
"major medical insurance" "high deductible" "new york"
"health plan" "high deductible" "new york"
Best regards,
larre-ga |
