Arizona community members

[grasshopper]

Just an informational post that would affect HC. Looks like we may get a no surprise billing law similar to Texas.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...-18/arizona-lawmakers-target-surprise-billing

 

[MichaelB]

A snippet from the article

Arizona lawmakers are working on a set of proposals designed to give more protection to patients who receive unanticipated medical bills from out-of-network providers, as legislators across the nation continue to fight the issue known as "surprise billing."

 

[Zona]

This is good news for those of us trying to get a handle on medical costs in ER. DH and I have a huge deductible (10k in network/10k out each) on our plans that leaves us vulnerable to these kind of surprise out of network costs. For routine medical care we always do our research beforehand to stay in-network. But in an emergency situation, we may not have that luxury.

At least if this passes, we'd be better positioned to deal with a catastrophic emergency situation.

 

[Fedup]

This is good news. Even when I pick in network doctor and when Go into surgery they bring somebody else from out of network. That somebody else better get paid in network price.
Hope CA is doing something similar.

 

[check6]

DH and I have a huge deductible (10k in network/10k out each) on our plans

Wow!

 

[NW-Bound]

It's about time.

If I remember correctly, my ACA insurer says it will pay zero, as in 0, to out-of-network providers. No deductive, no nothin'. Zero is 0.

 

[MBSC]

Hope CA is doing something similar.

CA passed a law last year that will apply to policies issued or renewed after 7/1/17.

The Law applies to plans and insurance policies issued in California, amended, or renewed after July 1, 2017....

More info: California’s Surprise Medical Bill Statute: Part 1: Implications and National Trends

 

[zinger1457]

I must be missing something, our (AZ) state legislators never pass any new laws that don't have the backing of some powerful business special interest group.

 

[Zona]

Wow!

Yes, I know! It's a pre-ACA grandfathered BCBS plan - we have a small (just us) LLC and pay insurance out of pocket. We haven't switched to ACA because the plans ("plan", really - there's just one this year) offered here don't include any of our doctors in their network. We were on a 3K deductible plan but premiums just got to be too much so we switched to the max deductible to reduce our premiums. We bank the money saved on premiums into a savings account that I track separately in Quicken earmarked for medical expenses. (Because the plan is pre-ACA it doesn't qualify as a HDHP so no HSA. It's terrible, but our doctors are great and we are young-ish and healthy for now.)

We are waiting to see what happens with HC and will switch if something more reasonable comes along. We are also looking at going back to Megacorp in the meantime.

 

[Beldar]

Just an informational post that would affect HC. Looks like we may get a no surprise billing law similar to Texas.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...-18/arizona-lawmakers-target-surprise-billing

Thank you for posting that, I'll be contacting my reps for support.

_B