The Doctor is Out of Network

[MachineGhost]

I don't understand why all these insurance companies keep adding more and more stupid network layers for each and every exception, instead of just consolidating everything into one!  Ught.  My second experience with HMO's (first was during the first early 1990's experiment) has been another disaster.

Since the ACA created marketplaces for private health plans last fall, insurers expecting to lure customers with low premiums have fashioned smaller networks of medical providers. By cutting out expensive hospitals and negotiating favorable rates with doctors in exchange for sending more patients their way, insurers can keep premiums down. Blue Shield’s new network includes 43 hospitals in Los Angeles County, about 64 percent of what its standard coverage offers, spokeswoman Lindy Wagner says in an e-mail.

In addition to having fewer options, buyers are making decisions about which plans to buy based on incomplete or misleading information, says Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group. “Consumers have a very limited ability to shop in advance and evaluate provider networks,”? she says.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... some-plans