Anyone have Health Alliance?

[LisaRay]

I posted this over on the community board but then after I thought about it I decided that it is a budget question so I thought I'd copy it over here too.

ok, through my DH's employer we have a choice of either Blue Cross Blue Shield which we have used for the past 8 years he has been there or now they have given us a second choice of Health Allience? They actually added this 2nd choice about 2 years ago but we didn't switch to it. Partly because i don't like change and I felt like I understood what we already had. And the monthly fee was higher for Health Allience.


However, DH had to attend a meeting at work today and he called me saying that maybe this health allience is something we should think about. The amount that we would have taken out of his pay each month for health care would be an additional $100!! however from listening to him it looks like it covers so many things at 100%! Our son has allergies and asthma so we always have shots and expenses from that.

I will be looking over all of the paper work tonight when he gets home but I am just so nervous about switching compainies! At least if we stay with BCBS we know what they cover and don't cover and we feel like we just know what to expect. I would hate to switch and have it end up costing me more every month along with costing me more in bills too!


Even though I know that every plan is different I was wondering if anyone out there has had any experience good or bad about Health Allience? We have until Nov. 1st to decide.

 

[mnasmom3]

We have HAP-HMO (health alliance plan) and I haven't had any compliants. I know lots of people gripe about HMO's, but we've saved a ton of money over the years. I've never had a hard time getting or using referrals. They recently changed the way they do referrals and it's easier now. I've also always had good customer service from HAP. I'm not sure what plan you'd be offered...I'm assuming they have many more then just the HMO. List the pros and cons and decide if it's worth it for your family.

 

[Colinsmom]

It sounds like an HMO. The catch is that you can only go to HMO doctors, so make sure that your providers are part of the HMO (or that there are providers that you are willing to switch to).

 

[alfredselby]

Cambridge Health Alliance is a private organization that consist of Cambridge City Hospital.Most doctors do not need a referral.They have pretty much done away with that system.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

Assuming you're talking about HAP (Health Alliance Plan) we've had them for years and for routine stuff they've been great. We've only had to go to specialists a few times but there has been no problems with referrals. I actually think our coverage has gotten better over the years b/c when we first started out we had a co-pay even on annual or well visit doctor visits but now that's all covered (we still have a co-pay if one of the kids gets sick and we have to go in). My only complaint is several years ago my son needed speech therapy and HAP tried to give us only partial coverage for the visits even though it was a covered expense. It took about 6 months, several appeals, and a scheduled arbitration before they finally coughed up the money but in the meantime we had to pay out of pocket and it was not cheap. But overall I'd say they're pretty good.