A Lot to Be Thankful for, I Suppose

I guess I should be thankful that I have insurance, even though BCBS of Texas just sent me a letter informing me that my 2009 premium will increase by 9%. Yeah, I am grateful to pay even more for bare-bones coverage that I haven’t used once since the 1/08 effective date. At least BCBS was nice enough to offer a couple of alternative, less expensive plans for me to consider. Both are HSAs like the plan I have now. One has the same deductible as my current plan ($2500), but I would have to pay 15% more in coinsurance for only an $8 reduction in monthly premiums. Not worth it. The other has a $5000 deductible (eeek!), but covers all INN (in-network) services at 100% after the deductible is met and offers a $23 reduction in monthly premiums.

Despite the intimidating deductible, the latter plan is worth investigating for me personally, especially since I confirmed on-line that the OOP (out-of-pocket) maximum is the $5000 deductible, meaning that if I incur stratospheric healthcare charges, I’m only out $5000 provided I stick with contracted providers. Although, it would mean a significant financial setback, I have the funds set aside to pay this amount if illness or injury should strike. This is in addition to the amount I set aside to cover preventative medical and dental care and a routine prescription on an annual basis. If the monthly rate reduction is $20 or more, I would be tempted to switch to the $5000 plan and plug the approximate $240 in monthly savings into my HSA, which I plan to fund to the $3000 maximum in 2009 if all goes as planned. I suspect, though, that given the 100% coverage perk, I would have to go through the underwriting process again, which is a major pain in the ass. Then again, since I just went through underwriting at this time last year, and I haven’t seen any healthcare providers since, there’s no new information to review. Maybe, they could fast-track me somehow. Naaaahhh!

The insurer sent along a new application for which I’m sure I’d have to pay a non-refundable fee, so I tried in vain to get through to customer service to confirm whether I’d actually have to reapply to switch to the $5000 plan, go through underwriting again, and pay a fee. But, of course, being the day before Thanksgiving, it appears that only two customer service reps are servicing the entire BCBS Texas membership because after wasting 30 precious daytime cell phone minutes waiting for a representative, I still couldn’t get through. I will try again next week before I resign myself to paying the 9% increased premium for my current plan. In the meantime, I’m thankful that despite suffering from a wicked cold at the moment, I enjoy good health, which affords me the privilege of considering a $5000 deductible plan. I’m also thankful that I’m not a chatty Kathy and can waste the occasional 30 daytime minutes on hold without incurring outrageous overage charges. I resolve to be a well of gratitude, at least until I attempt to contact customer service again.