Eliminate Frustration
It’s January and that insurance you finally decided to purchase has kicked in. Here are 4 things to do the first month on new health insurance that will make the rest of the year smooth sailing.
Read your plan documents. But don’t do it before bed because it might put you to sleep. But seriously, read them. Wether you receive them via email or in the mail they can contain really important information on how to use your plan, where to check for in network providers, how to access services like telemedicine or mail order pharmacy, and you might even find out about benefits you didn’t know you had. A client of mine recently learned she had a quarterly over the counter allowance that wasn’t advertised at the time we selected her plan. A couple days later she sent me pictures of the items she purchased to refill her medicine cabinet. It was awesome! Some other benefits you might not be aware of in your plan could be a gym membership or access to virtual exercise classes, therapy benefits, and even in home services (like cleaning or grocery pick up…I promise this is true). So if you don’t read your plan documents you will never know and will never take full advantage of your benefits.
Register and create a portal on your carrier’s website. I know you don’t want another login and password to keep up with but if you do it now it will save you time and headache later down the road. Typically from your carrier portal you can view your claims, explanation of benefits and billing, search for in network doctors, and access other benefit information. There is nothing worse than trying to log in to a website you have never accessed before when your kid has 100.4 fever, wont stop crying, and cant swallow. Registering in advance will ensure that when the time comes that you need to access services you will not be jumping through any extra hoops to get it.
Provide a copy of your insurance card to your doctors office or pharmacy in advance. Often clinics will say things like “we accept United Health Care” only for you to show up and find out they DO NOT accept YOUR SPECIFIC United Health Care plan. This is so frustrating and can leave the strongest of us in tears. If you provide the clinic or pharmacy a copy of your insurance card (not just the name of the carrier or policy name) in advance they can verify your benefits before you show up and there will be no surprises. As a registered nurse I know what it is like on the other side of things and believe me when I say, we get zip training on insurance. While I believe most clinics and pharmacies have the best intentions, unfortunately it is easy for you to receive incorrect information from a clinic when things are not concisely laid out for them. Showing your actual insurance card will cut down on a lot of that.
Be your own advocate. If you believe you have benefits and are being told otherwise either by a provider or an insurance company be persistent. 95% of my job is staying on the phone or on hold until I get answers and my cleints needs resolved. I dont want to say the system intentionally makes it challenging so you will give up but it certainly works in their benefit. I will share a story of my own to drive my point home. I am an avid runner and on occasion have injuries. They are typically resolved with chiropractic care but after persistent, unrelieved hip pain my chiropractor decided to get it imaged. He sent me to a local imaging facility for an X-ray and before going I checked my benefits. On my plan, X-rays had a $10 copay. On arrival at the clinic, they told me it would be $135. I told them I had a copay and the staff member said “oh it must be because you have not met your deductible”. I explained to her a copay is not subject to the deductible to which she replied “well this is what the insurance company told us was your portion”. While I should have pushed back and asked her to bill me for the extra $125 after my insurance paid their portion, I went ahead and paid it. I jokingly told her they would be cutting me a check in a few weeks and we both laughed. Well about a month later a check arrived in the mail for $125 dollars. VICTORY! I felt so justified in that moment and this story is the gift that keeps on giving because it has helped many of my clients understand the power of advocating for themselves. Had I not been in the position to pay the extra $125 that day, knowing my benefits and advocating for myself would have been even more crucial.
I hope these tips help you as you start a new year with new health insurance. If you need help navigating this maze of health insurance or are currently uninsured feel free to reach out to us at hannah@boutiquebenefitsco.com or 972-832-5085