Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Why are we so paranoid about having choices?
Old 11-11-2013, 06:51 AM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Florida's First Coast
Posts: 7,664
Why are we so paranoid about having choices?

The more choices IMHO, the more opportunities for getting duped by the insurance companies. I have over 80 plan choices. WHY? All I need is one good option. I really am having a difficult time in choosing. I am concerned that if I choose one, and omit to read every word of the plans small and large print I will be short something.

Insurance companies spend their lives trying to confuse people as to what coverage they get at what cost. We do not have a healthcare problem we have an insurance problem. Let us fix the insurance problem and the healthcare will take care of itself.

PS. Healthcare.gove has been working fine for me in FLA. Why are we still complaining about it?
__________________
"Never Argue With a Fool, Onlookers May Not Be Able To Tell the Difference." - Mark Twain
ShokWaveRider is online now   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 11-11-2013, 06:53 AM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,263
We are not paranoid. On the other hand, you may be.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:04 AM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Florida's First Coast
Posts: 7,664
I do not think I am. I do NOT want so many choices. Just give me reasonable health care at a reasonable price.

It is just I hear all the time that the ACA is limiting a persons choices, I do not see it that way at all.

The Nice thing about an Employer's plan is you get what you get or there are only 3 choices. I checked ACA today and there are 25 Bronze choices and umpteen Silver (I got fed up looking after that).
__________________
"Never Argue With a Fool, Onlookers May Not Be Able To Tell the Difference." - Mark Twain
ShokWaveRider is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:13 AM   #4
Administrator
MichaelB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,581
Well, in my view the 36 choices BCBS of Florida gives me are really 4. One is catastrophic. The other 3 are Blue HMO, Blue Options, and Blue Select. They each have different networks but are otherwise the same policy with 30 or so different combinations of cost share - deductible, co-pay, total out of pocket, out of network, HSA. In our case it is pretty easy choose the network we want and then filter and reduce the list to just a couple, especially using Animorph's spreadsheet (here).
MichaelB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:17 AM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,203
I am with MichaelB on this.... you have to look at the actual insurance to determine how many plans are being offered... the rest are just options...

As an example... would you say that there are so many choices when you went to buy a car because there are many different colors.... some have leather and some not.. a basic vs a fully loaded To me, if it is a Camry, that is one choice... the Accord a second etc. etc....
Texas Proud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:19 AM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,203
Cost sharing of healthcare costs does nothing to bring the cost of said healthcare down... I doubt it will 'take care of itself'....
Texas Proud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:23 AM   #7
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 845
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider View Post
I really am having a difficult time in choosing. I am concerned that if I choose one, and omit to read every word of the plans small and large print I will be short something.
One of the better aspects of the ACA is that certain insurance practices are banned and certain coverages are required. Overall, I think that there is a lot less risk now than before.
anethum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:28 AM   #8
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Florida's First Coast
Posts: 7,664
I just do not think healthcare should be compared with buying a car, TV, or other item, or even other insurance policies for that matter.

We ALL need and MUST HAVE it (No Option) at some point. I believe we just make it more complicated than it needs to be. 1 (One, OK 2 for those who MUST choose) Options for all would work just fine. I do not consider myself stupid (Although I was stupid enough to attend Uni for 6 years to get a masters degree that I rarely actually used in the real world), but I digress.

The high majority of folk are not that smart (Despite what we keep telling ourselves), I cannot imagine the problems (Web site Aside) they are having choosing a plan. I would not mind betting that most give up and solicit help of some sort to make the decision. I see more of a requirement for ACA store outlets to help the masses especially those over 55 (Again at a cost). Money that could be better spend on actual healthcare.
__________________
"Never Argue With a Fool, Onlookers May Not Be Able To Tell the Difference." - Mark Twain
ShokWaveRider is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 07:51 AM   #9
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider View Post
The more choices IMHO, the more opportunities for getting duped by the insurance companies. I have over 80 plan choices. WHY? All I need is one good option....
It is to prepare younger folks for the mindnumbing number of choices they will face with Medicare.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 08:41 AM   #10
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,281
Reading a good book now, The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. He discusses the problems with the range of choice we have today, no matter what it is. Sorry, not quite on topic but might be helpful in understanding why people look at choice differently.
savory is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 09:30 AM   #11
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever View Post
It is to prepare younger folks for the mindnumbing number of choices they will face with Medicare.
How true ...

The medicare exchange we're required to use starting this year (from my former employer) has 9 Medigap, 14 Perscription, and 26 Advantage (includes Medigap/Drug - AKA "Part C") options based upon our zip code.

Before we were notified of the change (September), I mentioned to my wife that I was sure glad we didn't have to go through this silly ACA "cra*" since we're both on Medicare ...

Life has a way of smacking that smile off your face ...
rescueme is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 10:16 AM   #12
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Katsmeow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,307
I do think there is a legitimate point here. To be clear, I would not want there to be only one choice. Some people like HMOs, some people like PPOs and so on. That said, having an overwhelming number of choices can be paralyzing, particularly with the differences between the choices is unclear. I remember when I was helping my mom pick a prescription drug plan when those came out. It was a difficult undertaking and she was just paralyzed by the whole thing.

I do think that the thing of in-network and out of network does complicate things. One reason I would prefer to see a Medicare style plan (traditional not Advantage) is to get out of networks. I also like the way Medicare supplement policies are all the same for a particular "letter" and then just compete on price. Makes it easier (I do think even those choices could be simplified down to only a few supplement policies).
Katsmeow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 11:06 AM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
MRG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider View Post
.......................................

PS. Healthcare.gove has been working fine for me in FLA. Why are we still complaining about it?
I agree, I only have 16, but I got overwhelmed.

Have you been on healthcare.gov since Friday. Apparently they have a bunch of fixes going in. I can no longer create a new account, nor can I find the application I had almost completed. I agree I was getting pretty used to it. Now it's going to get fixed, and broken. Nine woman can't have a baby in a month, no matter what commitments people make.

MRG
MRG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 11:08 AM   #14
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,263
I have many choices as well, but it really boils down to 4 bronze plans and 2 catastrophic plans real quick.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 11:22 AM   #15
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: San Diego
Posts: 712
We're equally baffled. We've been able to compare the options since July here in CA. Back then I quickly narrowed down the choices to 2 or 3, but we haven't been able to make any progress since then. We just keep going back and forth. I wish that we had been given the option of buying into Medicare. That would have been good for us and for Medicare.
AllDone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 11:25 AM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,558
This reminds me of something funny from a previous employer. We were given three choices for health care plans, but when I dug into two of them, it was clear that one of them was always superior to the other. So there were really only to choices that made rational sense.

However, about a third of the people chose the option that was always worse than one of the other two options. I was talking to my manager about it, and he was just flabergasted, as we were a company made up of networking consultants. Most people just don't take the time to look closely at these things.

The next year the company just removed the bad option and we were left with two choices

On the positive side, even if people choose badly, there are enough guide rails built into the system now that it won't be the end of the world.
Hamlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 11:28 AM   #17
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,894
Quote:
Originally Posted by MRG View Post
Have you been on healthcare.gov since Friday. Apparently they have a bunch of fixes going in. I can no longer create a new account, nor can I find the application I had almost completed. I agree I was getting pretty used to it. Now it's going to get fixed, and broken.
MRG
I was on this morning, everything still there for mine.
rbmrtn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 11:56 AM   #18
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ziggy29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
We have 17 choices in my county (all BCBS TX). I don't see a need for 17 plans, especially from the same insurer with the same provider network, though I certainly see room for a couple at each metallic level. (That 17 includes only bronze, silver and gold plans here.)
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
ziggy29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 12:06 PM   #19
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,894
Mine has something like 18 plans listed, but in reality just variations of the same thing. Basically 2 at each metal level that differ by deductible amount. Then each of those optioned with dental and/or vision. All from the same and only provider.

I don't recall having any choices when working. You got what they gave you.
rbmrtn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 12:11 PM   #20
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
mpeirce's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Northern Ohio
Posts: 3,182
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider View Post
The more choices IMHO, the more opportunities for getting duped by the insurance companies. I have over 80 plan choices. WHY?
One reason choices are good is that one person's obvious choice is not another person's obvious choice.

For example, I have a catastrophic policy that I like (liked, past tense, alas). My sister has something similar and hates it (why she didn't change is a long story...).

I'm the kind of person who orders a car with specific options from a huge number of choices and wait for the factory to build it for me, while she's the kind of person who buys a standard car off the lot.

vive la différence!
mpeirce is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:14 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.