Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance
In Illinois, all of those with aching backs and hurting muscles are about to get a big break. The Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance in Illinois is going to start covering chiropractic care, an area of medicine that many people want and need, but that most health insurance providers won’t touch because they deem it to be something elective, or not medically necessary. Those who have to deal with aches and pains everyday, and for whom pain pills aren’t enough or aren’t acceptable, they are very necessary, and Blue Cross has come to the light.
The program is called CAM, which stands for complementary and alternative medicine, and it is slated to start on the first of January. The problem that many consumers might find with it is that it is not an actual part of the coverage of their health insurance plan. Rather, it is separate, set up as a discount health insurance card. This does make things easier, as it means claims and referrals won’t be necessary like they usually are, though.
While the actual Blue Cross discount card is cheaper to begin with, it costs more than your usual health care plan if you have to end up using it. You pay the chiropractor or the practitioner of whatever type of alternative treatment you are getting, and the card is only responsible for giving you a discount. While it is a big discount, at twenty five percent, that is only the case if you work within the network that Blue Cross has chosen.
More and more people are becoming interested in alternative forms of health care, and Blue Cross is just the first health insurance company to have buckled under the weight of demands for coverage for this type of treatment. For those who cannot afford any other kind of health insurance, it might be a good start on getting some medical care, considering the lower costs.
Blue Cross is putting itself forward to help current and potential customers understand the program by providing them with a website called Healthy Roads. The website is still in its early stages, but it contains a load of information about different types of alternative health care. It also has a directory of alternative care providers who are part of Blue Cross’s program, and a bunch of products that might appeal to people interested in alternative health care. It’s a great source of information, even for those who do not have a Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plan.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Referrals and Columbia health insurance
Reader question:
I attend Columbia University and know that you have to get a referral to go off campus. Is this the case for everything?
Griselda
Nope.
Just because you are a registered full time student covered by the University of Columbia’s health insurance doesn’t mean that there are no exceptions to the many rules that they set out for you. It is true that in most cases if you go to an off campus physician you need to be able to pay for it all yourself, and that if you want to be covered, you have to first be referred by the campus clinicians before you are able to seek outside coverage. The main exception to this is for emergencies, but there are many more. Here are some situations in which you would not need a referral first. You may not need a referral, but if you look for service off campus, it would be wise to let the campus clinicians help you find it.
- Emergencies. If you have to go to the hospital there is no way to demand a referral, but once you have been treated and released, if you need follow up care you have to go to the on campus clinicians.
- Pre-natal care.
- OB/GYN appointments.
- Abortions.
- Mammograms are covered off campus with one between the age of 35 and 40, and one yearly once you reach forty. You can get more if you have a personal or family history of breast cancer and are recommended to get more by a doctor.
- If you attended Columbia before and got a referral for a certain condition, when you go back you are able to continute with the treatment of this condition using the same referral, without having to get a new one.
- Yearly pap smear and OB/GYN visit. You can get a pap smear on campus without a copay, and if you go off campus you will have to pay a co payment. If you go off campus to get a pap smear and are given other treatment or tests, it is acceptable so long as it is reasonable and you won’t have to get a referral for it.,
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Two tiered Columbia health insurance plan
Reader question:
What types of health care plans are offered at Columbia University?
Randall
Great question.
There are two types of health insurance plans that you can get if you are a registered full time student at Columbia University, either as a grad student or an undergrad. One of them is the basic level, and the other the comprehensive, and you have the option to get both. Every student who registers full time at Columbia is automatically enrolled into the Columbia health insurance program, so it is likely that if you attend Columbia you will be choosing between one of these health insurance coverage plans.
The basic level plan is the one at which everybody starts. You are automatically put into this plan, although you may get a waiver or even get the comprehensive plan instead. This is the average plan that works for most students and is made for the people with less risk. If you don’t plan on using a more than average amount of health service, and you want a cheap plan, then the basic level may be for you. The basic level comes with $300,000 of coverage and might be a good option for students who can’t afford to pay high monthly premiums, as it puts more of the burden on co pays than on premiums.
The comprehensive plan is the next level up, and it comes with a million dollars worth of maximum coverage over the course of the insured person’s life. It comes with everything that the basic level does, with a little extra. It helps for people who need more extensive mental care by providing them with off campus mental evaluation and treatment, and it also comes with greater provisions for things like prescriptions and recovery treatments. This is the best option for students with a pre existing condition, although it can be expensive because the monthly premium costs more, but copayments and deductibles are smaller.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.