Health Insurance In AZ
Health insurance in AZ is a very competitive market, with so many companies offering their version of quality, affordable health insurance policies. Who and what to believe becomes the challenge. To receive an instant quote on Health insurance in AZ, (no personal information required,) simply click on the link to the right.
Health Insurance In AZ
Health Insurance in AZ and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona:
Whenever I am faced with a decision to make, and there are many choices relating to health insurance in AZ, I am always reminded of what President Lincoln once said: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” For over seventy years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona has offered health insurance. They are the largest local health insurance company in the state, and have remained so for over seventy years. As a non-profit organization, consumers looking for the most competitively priced health insurance can rely on them. They have over $600 million dollars in reserves, which means they are financially stable. When comparing carriers that offer health insurance in AZ, please take the time to visit the Arizona Department of Insurance website, http://www.id.state.az.us/, and check out the financial stability and number of complaints each health insurance in AZ company you are interested in has. You will find that Blue Cross Blue Shield of AZ. has an extremely low number of complaints when considering that they do $1.6 billion dollars in premium each year. Of all the health insurance in AZ carriers in the state, only one can honestly claim to have, on average, a 95% approval rating, and recently was awarded the J.D. Power and Associates award for best PPO in the region.
Health Insurance In AZ
The question to ask yourself is why does this non-profit organization have such a stellar reputation amongst all health insurance in AZ companies, and to maintain this reputation decade after decade? Remembering what President Lincoln said, is it possible that so many people, for so long, have given this health insurance in AZ company such high marks could all be wrong? Of course not. The reason is simple, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona does what they say they are going to do, at a fair price, offering health insurance in AZ products that fit the needs of the people. And speaking of price, when an honest apples to apples comparison is done between a BCBSAZ policy and that of a competitor, the Blue Cross Arizona policy will cost you less, both in premium and out of pocket expenses. Year in and year out, Blue Cross of Arizona has considerably lower rate increases than most other carriers. Of all the health insurance in AZ carriers, BCBSAZ has, by far, the lowest pre-determined negotiated rates with providers than any other carrier. What this means to you is lower out of pocket expenses because these negotiated rates are passed along to you. This is why Michael Higgins suggests purchasing a high deductible plan, especially an HSA plan like the Blue Portfolio Plus. Your premiums will be low due to the high deductible, but when a claim does occur you will only have to pay the low negotiated rate for medical services instead of full retail. With an HSA you can pay for these medical expenses with tax-free dollars. Also helpful is the fact that as a member of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona you can look up your actual cost local providers will charge for many medical procedures such as an MRI or birth of a child. You will be shocked at the varying prices charged for identical procedures at the different hospitals and doctor’s offices around town. As an example, an MRI on your left shoulder may cost you $350.00 at a stand-alone MRI office, while at the local hospital it will cost you at least $1000.00 more! Adding insult to injury is the fact that the physician that interprets your MRI may be the same person at both facilities, a contracted provider on several health insurance in AZ plans.
Health Insurance In AZ
There has been a lot of talk lately from certain politicians stating that, by passing the new health insurance in AZ law, insurers can no longer cancel policyholder’s coverage due to large claims or mistakes on applications. Sounds good. But there is one problem with this, “problem.” The problem does not exist! Did you know that of the nearly 365,000 individual policies Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona sold last year, ONE was cancelled due to fraud. 99.99% of the time when BCBSAZ discovers that a pre-existing condition exists but was not disclosed on the application, the claim is denied, but the policy is not cancelled. People make honest mistakes and Blue Cross knows this. I actually forgot to mention a pre-existing condition when I was switching plans last year, and this happened with 30 plus years of experience selling Arizona health insurance! With the new underwriting practices at BCBSAZ and their health insurance in AZ policies, many pre-existing conditions are covered as discussed below.
There is some exciting news regarding underwriting of health insurance in AZ individual and family plans. Blue Cross of Arizona will no longer exclude certain pre-existing conditions from coverage, instead charging an additional premium to cover the condition. It is a three tier rating system. Depending on the overall health of the applicant and number of pre-existing conditions present, a 15%, 35%, or 80% rate-up is possible. If you had previous health insurance in AZ coverage before switching to BCBSAZ, they will give you credit toward your 11 month waiting period.