Florida ACA for use around the country

[mebden]

Originally Posted by Sbrownstein

You misunderstood. Florida doesn't tax anything...

Yes Thats what I thought so she's good to go to change to Florida Domicile. I will have to watch my income yearly to keep ACA payments low

[dmp1991]

Have there been any rumblings or rumors about Florida Blue going away for 2022 or beyond? I don't want to move my domicile only for that nationwide plan to go away!

[dixonge]

Originally Posted by dmp1991

Have there been any rumblings or rumors about Florida Blue going away for 2022 or beyond? I don't want to move my domicile only for that nationwide plan to go away!

Just reviewed my plan for 2022 on their web site. Have heard no such rumors

[gatorb8]

Originally Posted by CMHMike

This is my first year domiciling in Florida. I'm 58 so don't qualify for medicare yet and am in good health. One of the reasons I chose Florida was because I thought I read where some of the insurance options (Florida Blue rings a bell) were usable throughout the country and not just in Florida. Now when I'm looking for specific policies, Florida Blue tells me they don't have a product that can be used throughout the country. The agent didn't seem very knowledgeable so thought I'd ask here.
I'm also considering an indemnity plan, but that has some drawbacks that I'm not sure I'm comfortable with. I'm not interested in a healthshare plan.

get another agent, plans are available!

[move on]

I think these national networks are no longer available, though some of them may be grandfathered in if you already have one.

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by dmp1991

Have there been any rumblings or rumors about Florida Blue going away for 2022 or beyond? I don't want to move my domicile only for that nationwide plan to go away!

FYI - ACA coverage is based on where you actually reside, which for RVers may not necessarily be their domicile state.

[oatmeal]

Originally Posted by move on

I tried searching for a few New York hospitals on the Florida Blue website and I couldn't find any in their network.

I think your search strategy may have been faulty because I found 160 Blue Cross in-network hospitals within a 25-mile radius of Manhattan.

Originally Posted by move on

I also tried Medishare's network and they are accepted by almost all New York City hospitals. Let's say you get cancer and you want the best possible facility, arguably Sloan Kettering in NYC. I don't see that Florida Blue would cover you.

Here's where it says Sloan Kettering in NYC accepts Blue Cross. I used a Florida Blue BlueSelect Plan (prefix VMA) for my search:
https://provider.bcbs.com/app/public...e&productCode=

Originally Posted by move on

The provider network is everything when it comes to health insurance.

True. And that's why people choose a PPO/EPO Blue Cross Plan from Florida.

[oatmeal]

Originally Posted by move on

I think these national networks are no longer available, though some of them may be grandfathered in if you already have one.

What's your source for that statement? And at what point were they discontinued? The one I used to perform the search for Sloan Kettering is a current plan that began coverage on January 1 of this year, so it obviously doesn't fall into the "no longer available" category.

[move on]

Well, maybe you can still find one, but it's sure to be outrageously expensive.

[Sbrownstein]

Originally Posted by move on

Well, maybe you can still find one, but it's sure to be outrageously expensive.

I have used Florida Blue since 2006, before I was on Medicare. Their "in Network" consists of every Blue Cross program in every state that I have been in, including doctors.

Now...outrageously expensive...well everything is expensive unless you qualify for Medicaid, then no one takes your insurance.

[move on]

Originally Posted by Sbrownstein

I have used Florida Blue since 2006, before I was on Medicare. Their "in Network" consists of every Blue Cross program in every state that I have been in, including doctors.



Now...outrageously expensive...well everything is expensive unless you qualify for Medicaid, then no one takes your insurance.

Health sharing plans are still reasonable. About 1/3 the price of an ACA policy. They also have national coverage.

[oatmeal]

Originally Posted by move on

Well, maybe you can still find one, but it's sure to be outrageously expensive.

But that's not what you said. You said you "think these national networks are no longer available." What made you think that?

It's obvious that you're very keen on health sharing plans, and that's fine, except you're spreading misinformation about real insurance plans, and that's not fine. You claimed that Florida Blue wasn't accepted at any hospitals in New York City, and that's not true. You claimed that Florida Blue wouldn't be accepted at Sloan Kettering, and that's not true. You claimed that national networks for health insurance were no longer available, and that's not true.

What is true is that Blue Cross has an extnsive national network of providers, and Florida Blue EPO/PPO plans offer access to that network.

What is also true is that fulltime RVers with Florida domiciles have used their Florida Blue EPO/PPO plans all over the country, for years, and no one has reported Florida Blue ever denying a claim because the person was using insurance based on his Florida domicile rather than the location where we was actually residing at the time of the claim.

As for healthshare ministries, what is true is that they are not insurance and are not subject to any regulation or oversight like insurance is. The ministries are not contractually obligated to pay any claim, and they don't promise to pay any claims. Everything they do is voluntary.

[move on]

Originally Posted by oatmeal

As for healthshare ministries, what is true is that they are not insurance and are not subject to any regulation or oversight like insurance is. The ministries are not contractually obligated to pay any claim, and they don't promise to pay any claims. Everything they do is voluntary.

Yes, it's true that healthshare ministries are technically not insurance. They actually remind you of this very vigorously. And yes, they are not government regulated, which is how they are able to reduce your healthcare costs. They don't have the bloated bureaucracies, agents, marketing costs and profit structures that insurance companies do. They also have excellent track records of paying claims, not like some insurance companies.

[oatmeal]

Originally Posted by move on

Yes, it's true that healthshare ministries are technically not insurance.They actually remind you of this very vigorously.

Well in Texas they're required to do so under state law (Texas Insurance Code Section 1681.002). A law that probably came about because they weren't being very vigorous in their reminders, and they do look an awful lot like insurance, with copays and deductibles and networks.

Originally Posted by move on

And yes, they are not government regulated, which is how they are able to reduce your healthcare costs.

Which regulations are they not subject to that allow them to "reduce your healthcare costs"? Really. Which regulations?

And a good way to reduce costs is to not be contractually obligated to pay for anything, and to refuse to enroll anybody you don't want to enroll, for whatever reason. Covering everyone regardless of their health comes at a cost, which was amply illustrated when the ACA prohibited insurance companies from picking and choosing who they wanted to insure. Don't enroll them, and you don't have to bear the cost. (We'll leave aside the morality of this, keeping this discussion just to the facts.)

The ACA also eliminated lifetime caps, while healthshare ministries can have them. That's another way to reduce costs--when someone gets too expensive, shoo them away to become a burden on somebody else.

Originally Posted by move on

They don't have the bloated bureaucracies, agents, marketing costs and profit structures that insurance companies do.

Again with the misstatements.

Healthshare ministries do have agents and marketing costs. In this story about a healthshare ministry in Texas, it says:

"[The healthshare ministry] also confirmed it pays Texas insurance brokers up to 30 percent commission to enroll members, with an average of about 15 percent. The typical commission for selling a health plan in the state is between 2 and 5 percent, according to several Texas brokers."

https://web.archive.org/web/20211022...h-14065418.php

And contrary to what you said, there are nonprofit insurance companies--Kaiser Permanente is a well-known one. Even some of the Blue Crosses are nonprofits.

Originally Posted by move on

They also have excellent track records of paying claims, not like some insurance companies.

I'm not sure how you judge an excellent track record, since there's no shortage of complaints about healthshare ministries not paying claims.

And even then, they pay only the claims they choose to pay. As long as they're solvent (no regulations on that, of course), I assume they pay 100% of all claims they approve. Sounds great, except watch out for the "claims they approve" part--they don't have to approve anything.

As for insurance companies not paying claims, it will have to be done within the contract, and defended within the terms of the contract. For a healthshare ministry, all it has to so is say, "We're not paying." And you can't make them.