Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog

The Wall Street Journal health blog had an item about the holiday rush at the doctors office, which reminded me of a few interesting stories.

The first one is of a friend who, last year, because he’d put too much into his flexible spending account (use it or lose it), was asking if I needed new glasses (and I don’t even wear glasses except for long days in front of the computer).

The second is of a friend who is going to be retiring early, and wanted to know what to do about his health insurance. I helped him with the logistics, including getting all the medical and dental care he knows about now (nothing major that could cause medical underwriting problems, just replacing a few fillings) before he left his company. If he’s on his own he has to pay his own way. As part of a corporate entity, his benefits are part of his pay - and he can get the fillings replaced and subsidized by the company.

The third is of another guy who got himself fixed on the company’s tab before changing jobs to one without this particular benefit. From what he says, the procedure cost two copayments instead of the doctor’s list price of around $500. Is this what they mean by fixing health insurance? (wink)

Of these three, the first is certainly a function of the type of account the money is in: an HSA would keep the balance year-after-year. The second two are just examples of people timing their care based on benefits.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   benefits · dental · flexible spending account · Health Insurance · HSA · jobNo Comments