Health Insurance

A surprise medical bill is a bill for medical services an individual thought would be covered by his/her health insurance. The issue of surprise medical bills is receiving more and more attention as the cost of healthcare in the United States continues to rise. According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 89% of Americans

When I had gallbladder surgery 2 years ago, I was a full-time physician working for an academic medical institution in a large metropolitan area. I had great health insurance. I went to the Emergency Department for severe abdominal pain and was in the operating room early the next morning. Thankfully, all went well, and I

In Part 1 of this series, we learned that individuals are responsible for an increasing proportion of their health care costs. We also learned that there are numerous barriers that prevent one from comparison shopping for health care, including a lack of cost transparency, significant variability in cost between facilities, limited health literacy, and concerns

Are you a comparison shopper? When purchasing a pair of shoes, a washing machine, or a new car, do you browse various online sites in search of the best price? A December 2016 Pew Research study revealed that eight in ten American consumers shop online and that the primary reason is the ability to compare

If you have insurance through your job, your open enrollment season has likely ended and you have chosen (actively or passively) a health insurance plan for 2018. Congratulations! Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment season is winding down and I am sick and tired of reviewing insurance plans. My husband and I have less than

Does anyone else feel like Bill Murray’s character in the movie Groundhog Day? (For those unfamiliar with the movie, the main character gets caught in a blizzard and ends up trapped in a time warp, where the days endlessly repeat themselves over and over again.) After what many thought would be the last attempt (or

Less than 4 weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia’s new policy to deny Emergency Room visits later determined not to have been an emergency. At the end of last month, it was reported that Anthem, the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has implemented

There are two extremes among my family and friends–those who go to the Emergency Room for paper cuts and those who would wait until their pinky finger was literally hanging by a “thread” before seeking medical care. I say this in jest, to some extent, but we all know people who fit into one or

*NOTE: This article was originally published in 2017 and describes the 2017 ACA open enrollment process. It continues to be a valid resource for ACA open enrollment. Please refer to www.healthcare.gov or your state’s marketplace website for 2018 open enrollment information. The open enrollment dates for 2018 (2019 coverage) are 11/1/18-12/15/18.   My family and

In two weeks, I am leaving my job and leaping into the world of entrepreneurship! There are many things about this career move that have caused me anxiety, but my biggest worry has been health and dental insurance for my family. Because my husband is self-employed, we have always had coverage through my employer. We