Gyroscopic Investing

Don't know if any of you have run into this situation or not but I suspect that more people will as time goes by.

In November of last year my company came out with their 2013 policies for the health insurance program and one of the new features was that you could save up to $25 per month each on the premiums for a couple by participating in a "biometric screening" plan. For employees, this took place on-site for free and consisted of only height and weight measurements and a very simple, immediate result blood test showing cholesterol and sugar levels.

I eventually learned from an online article about Obamacare, which described the exact same tests that were performed, that it is a feature of Obamacare that insurance companies can eventually base premiums on the results of these tests (and my impression from reading the article was that they are encouraged to do so).

So what's the problem and how did this already cost me $1075? Spouses of employees could not get the free on-site testing. They had to go to a doctor to have it done.  So I made an appointment for my wife who hadn't seen the doctor in several years and the "simple blood tests" that were required turned into a $1,000 laboratory bill for a multitude of tests that were subsequently ALL denied by the insurance company. And then there was the followup visit to the doctor to discuss the result of the tests showing a slight Vitamin D deficiency at an uncovered cost of another $75.

Next year we will be smarter and shop around for a doctor or medical clinic who will agree to do only the minimum required tests but I wonder how hard that will be to find.

Was that a negative?  It sounds like this might help with the over-medicalization of America.

Kriegsspiel wrote: Was that a negative?  It sounds like this might help with the over-medicalization of America.

Did you not read the part where it cost him an additional $1,000?

It's always easy to spend other people's money, I guess.

Sounds like you could have opted out of these screenings.

Also sounds like you could have called your insurance company to confirm the tests were covered by the lab before getting them done.

Not sure Obamacare is to blame, unless it's going to make these screenings mandatory?

Honestly, this has nothing to do with Obamacare.  Your employer just chose a lousy insurance plan.  What happens now is the insurance companies tell employers: get at least 50% of your employees to do this biometric screening and we'll lower your premiums.  They can more effectively manage risk that way because then they know how many overweight or at risk individuals are in the group.

My employer gives us a discount if we do this, and additional discounts if we score in certain ranges of BMI, blood pressure, and glucose, etc.  They do the employee screenings on site and the spouse screenings are setup through a special website, blueprintforwellness.com that lets you schedule a free biometric at the nearest Quest lab.  We have done this the last few years and never paid a cent for it.

It sounds like your employer just didn't think things through and wants to get the benefit of paying lower premiums while sticking you with the lab bill.  Take it to your HR department and tell them they're idiots, and ask them to pay it for you.  Or just get a better job.

We should probably stop blaming Obamacare for every single thing that happens from now on.  People have been fighting with insurance companies over what is covered for decades.

clacy wrote:

Kriegsspiel wrote: Was that a negative?  It sounds like this might help with the over-medicalization of America.

Did you not read the part where it cost him an additional $1,000?

It's always easy to spend other people's money, I guess.

What?  It's the same conclusion the OP came to: don't get tests and screenings you don't need, because now YOU have to pay for them, instead of your insurance/employer/whoever who used to, leading to higher costs because everyone was doing it because there was no incentive not to.  At least that's how I understand it.

Your little jab wouldn't apply, because I am saying that people SHOULDN'T spend the money.