Question for people who actually use their health insurance:

[thanate]

We're looking at a new set of plan options, and the new company has a boatload of supposedly good ones, and I'm the kind of mostly healthy ex-Navy ex-dependent who hasn't really needed doctors much since I was too young to be paying attention to the details, so it's possible that my eyes glaze over more than usual when faced with coverage summaries, given my relative lack of context.

For those of you who use your healthcare, what's important to you? Particularly with reference to possible kids & the having thereof... What features do you love about your plan (current or past), what do you hate, what's turned up suddenly to cause you headaches, etc.

Any input much appreciated!

Comments

[belfebe.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the more comprehensive your plan, the better. Even if you never get sick, you never know what's going to happen. I was the poster child for someone who would never get diagnosed with breast cancer, and lo and behold, I did. And I didn't even have any lumps. (Note to self, mammograms are a life saver. Really.) The fact that my plan covered everything, was absolutely great.

What I am trying to say is, it's better to prevent than to get yourself diagnosed with something and then you "Holy crap! What now?"

Flexibility on your choice of doctors is great. PPO plans as opposed to HMO are better in that regard. A good coverage in pharmacy too. Often, it's the medication prices that do you in. See if they have a mail in option. By this, I mean that you can order 3 month supply of your prescription for one flat rate, as opposed to refilling at the pharmacy which is more expensive. And, do they cover contraception? Mail orders for that are great, if you are using it.

Whatever you do, don't skimp on coverage. And I don't know if you guys are planning on having kids eventually. If you do, that's even more critical.

Hope this helps.