After much stress, I have chosen my health insurance plan for 2020. I could’ve stayed with my current plan for a measly 7% rate increase. However, I’m expecting some inheritance money and had vowed to use part of it to focus on my health. I bought an expensive plan that should be better than what I had (ever, since I’ve had my own plan) and hopefully results in me getting better care. But it is 62% above what my current plan would be in 2020, and more than double what I’m paying currently (in part because I expect higher income next year and won’t qualify for rate assistance). So hopefully I can afford that until the inheritance money comes in.
I went with Oscar this year because they have some sort of special relationship with the Cleveland Clinic. Many of the other providers don’t support the Clinic at all, and my current provider (CareSource) made it confusing as to whether it fully did. The first day I looked, I swear it said it didn’t support my current doctor, though when I came back later, it said it did. Looking up what Clinic locations were supported was confusing for both providers, with some supported and some not, but Oscar seemed to support most. Anyway, I’m hoping the relationship will mean Oscar will work for whatever care I receive and everything, including billing, will go smoothly. Oscar advertises simplifying health care as a feature, so that’s what I’m hoping for.
In spite of the high premium, the plan is still considered bronze level. I went with the Classic Bronze Next plan. It’s a strange setup, with a $0 deductible and copays for lots of stuff. I kind of liked the idea of this because I’ve never hit a deductible on health insurance, and thus effectively never received anything from the insurance company, whereas with this, I will receive something every single time. It’s hard to say if it will actually end up being better. I will probably have to get a lot of care for that to happen. But there are a lot of issues I’d like to work on, so I’m hoping it will. And I’m hoping I can get some of these issues resolved and live better for it. If I do, the cost will be worth it, even if I have to struggle financially for a while.