Health Insurance Reviews

June 17, 2009 4:38 PM

Do you know any good health insurance review sites? Would/do you trust them?

With the news coming out that more than 60% of bankruptcies in 2007 were due to medical bills, it got me hunting for an insurance company that would be less likely to stick it to me when the chips are down.

I googled "health insurance reviews" and the only one that seemed useful was insurance.freeadvice.com.

I looked up my health insurance company and I was stunned how many "very unsatisfied" votes it got!

So before I just go off and switch providers, I want your opinion. How well can I trust that site? If I can't, how do you recommend I find good health insurance?

posted by philosophistry to health & fitness (3 comments total)

Everybody hates their health insurance company. Their business model is to stick it to you when the chips are down.

Actually, I should clarify that - healthy people generally like their health insurance company. Sick and/or injured people do not. I'm guessing healthy people aren't spending their time reviewing their insurance company on the internet.

I don't know if changing companies makes sense, but you should get very familiar with your policy. Know what they will and won't cover, know your deductibles and copays, know which providers are in network, and prepare to be surprised if you are ever need a lot of medical care. Your insurance company has a cadre of employees whose job it is to figure out reasons why they should not cover your care.

To answer your question, there are decent sites to rate providers of health care, but not any that I am aware of to rate health insurers. I think this is because the interests of health insurers are so opposed to to interests of their subscribers that such a rating system doesn't make sense.

That said, you might try the U.S. News rankings. Be aware that the non-profit Blue Cross/Blue Shield programs (not Anthem), might be better than a for-profit plan. Personally, I had a very good experience with United Healthcare (despite all the bad press they get), and have had a terrible experience with Aetna. YMMV.
posted by jeoc at 5:28 PM on June 17

There's some pretty good links there, thanks.
posted by philosophistry at 11:14 PM on June 17

Well, you should definitely look at your state's Department of Insurance site; most states publish information about the number of complaints (usually adjusted to account for different health carrier sizes) and justified complaints in the state each year. If you're in Texas, you want to look here.

Any company with a high number of justified complaints (those are usually ones that an impartial regulatory agency, ie your state department of insurance, has investigated and found that the company was actually at fault) is one you should stay away from. I'd also probably be wary of a company with a high number of overall complaints, even if justified complaints are low, because that is likely an indicator of really poor customer service--members feeling like they can't get stuff resolved and becoming frustrated enough to complain to the state, even when the company isn't technically at fault.

Another place to check might be to see whether your health plan is accredited by the National Committee on Quality Assurance, using their Health Plan Report Card. I'm not going to say it's a measure of excellence, but being accredited does at least say that the plan you're looking at is not a fly-by-night deal or using really egregiously bad practices.

If you're very concerned about potential bankruptcy due to medical bills, I'd say finding a carrier that doesn't have a habit of screwing their customers is a good first step. However, it's not the last step. Buying a policy from the best, kindest insurance company in the world won't help you too much if you choose to buy a policy with really skimpy benefits. Buying health insurance is less like buying car insurance and more like buying a car, in the sense that policies aren't really interchangeable: spending more will (generally) buy you a better product, in the sense of one that covers more services. It's not a bad thing to "buy down" the size of your premium by choosing a plan that has high coinsurance and high deductibles, but you should definitely realize that you're taking on more risk by doing so. If you feel like you don't understand this stuff well enough to know what trade-offs you're making, it might be a good idea to work with a health insurance broker to find a policy that covers everything you think ought to be covered by insurance.
posted by iminurmefi at 9:54 AM on June 18