What the actual *bleep is going on? Apparently they’re in a nasty contract negotiation. I remained fairly ignorant until I began getting a mess of letters this week from blue cross to each of my family members saying “good news, we’ve found you a new PCP. Your old ones won’t take your insurance as of 4/1”. And they’re requiring new referrals for the specialists we see. We’re just caught in the middle…
Yeah, it sucks. I’ve got caught up in the same nonsense.
Still hoping for an agreement sooner rather than later.
They always come to an agreement
It may take awhile
As long as you don’t have immediate health issues or ongoing treatments you can wait it out
When Blue Cross went to war with Kelsey-Seybold several years ago, they did not come to an agreement. K-S started offering their own “insurance” instead.
The cutoff was march 30th. Dont expect things to change. Theyve had all year. More greed
Single Payer.
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Sorry to hear that. If you or your family are dealing with a
serious medical condition, this is the last thing you should have
to worry about.
A broken for profit system.
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They said this with United health couple years ago it took about a month o think
No, BCBS is a non-profit organization. I remember reading about that years ago when they were in dispute with some of the hospitals we were dealing with, including (I think) MD Anderson.
I’m not smart enough to come up with a solution, but I can definitely complain about the current system.
One of my biggest complaints was that MD Anderson only accepted group health plans or Medicare. Luckily we had both for my wife. I owned my own business for a while and was the only employee the first couple years. Was able to keep COBRA for 2 years ($2300/month for a high deductible plan that allowed us to pay an additional $15k out of pocket before private insurance kicked in…) When I hired a full time employee, a large part of that decision was to be able to qualify for group health insurance.
We paid over $40k/yr for private insurance just to cover the 20% that Medicare didn’t cover. And we felt lucky to do so. I know we got a lot more out of the system than my wife ever paid in. (Thank you all for taking care of my wife for so many years with your Medicare contributions 
) So many don’t have the ability to get the care that we did, and we weren’t traveling for treatment, like so many patients that we met over the years.
We are a wealthy nation. There’s got to be a way we can make single payer work. But people are going to have to realize they won’t necessarily get out every cent that they put in, because some will take more than they put in. 
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Okay, thanks for the correction.
I see it’s a “ not-for-profit basis” vs “non profit”.
Here is how BCBSTX is described.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) is not a traditional charity but operates as a customer-owned, taxable mutual legal reserve company. As a division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), it does not have investors or stockholders, and it reinvests profits into the company to manage costs.
[image]Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas +2
Key details regarding BCBSTX:
- Structure: It operates as a mutual legal reserve company, meaning it is owned by its members rather than shareholders.
- Nonprofit Aspects: It is often described as operating on a not-for-profit basis, focusing on reinvesting margins into services.
- Tax Status: While it may have some tax-exempt aspects, it is generally considered a tax-paying entity.
- Charitable Activities: BCBSTX supports the community through initiatives like The Caring Foundation of Texas.
BCBSTX is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, serving nearly eight million members.
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Kinda related, my wife just had mammogram done. Doctor was associated with
Methodist and we have UHC insurance. All good. Now, between time she saw her doc, tests ordered, and tests scheduled, the doc quits association with Methodist and is no longer in UHC. Oddly enough we can’t get the test results. The docs new organization is now a monthly subscription entity with $299/mo fee - and does not
do any insurance. I thought you are entitled to a copy of your test results no matter
what, but we are having trouble getting them. Just frustrating.
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Every once in a while, there is a prolonged negotiation between provider and insurance company. BCBS is important because they are such a large provider. Surprised it is only Methodist.
Agreement reached, thankfully.
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