I will be working for Federal government starting january and I was wondering if anyone have any opinion on their health insurance plan. I am thinking about ditching my parent's BlueCross BlueShield and signing up with Aetna HMO plan. Price is same but I heard good things about Aetna. What do you guys think?

I have first care blue cross which is pretty good. I opted for a PPO though instead of the HMO. Pretty much as long as you stay away from Kaiser you should be ok. Personally I think blue shield and its offspring is the best I've known several doctors who use it as their own health insurance.

BCBS = Ferrari
Aetna = BMW

Both good, but one clearly better than the other.

I have not had excellent luck with Anthem BlueCross. I have found their customer service people to be lacking, totally untrained, and full of incorrect info. That's with Anthem Blue Cross though. I think the feds have CareFirst Blue Cross and I have heard better of them than Anthem.

The best experience with health insurance I have had is with brokers of PHCS. I'd jump back on a PHCS provider in a heartbeat if I could. If you are in NoVA and are considering Anthem be aware that they do not have an agreement with the outsourced group that runs several area emergency rooms (Fair Oaks, Fairfax to name two) which means you can be balance-billed for services there. I don't know if CareFirst does or not.

All BlueCross's are not the same.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2006 09:04AM by pgens.

We have CareFirst Blue Cross and it is excellent coverage. When I broke my leg in Hawaii, they covered the rescue helicopter and the ambulance to the hospital. Also they coverd the wheelchair rental and the walker I had to use. The PPO network is excellent for people living in Northern Va. I also find they are very organized with the paperwork. They also have a call in system just in case you have any questions about any condition.
Also when our son was in high school they also covered 90% of the fee for a psychologist that he saw re: drug and alcohol abuse.
My good friend has a family and she loves Kaiser because she can get her kids seen ASAP and one has severe asthsma.

Trickie

Whatever you do, go PPO over HMO.

I'd agree with the above if you have a family, but if you are on your own and are relatively healthy having an HMO will be just as good and usually save you some money. OP seems to indicate contextually that he is single and young. The premium may be the same but check with maximum out-of-pocket expenses and copays to make sure those are the same as well before deciding.

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