Mr. Cat
Senior Member
- Messages
- 156
- Location
- Nothern California
Hello,
So I don't have insurance and I am looking into Covered California (Obamacare in CA) around the SF Bay Area, and wondering if it would be helpful at all for CFS. The options are Blue Shield, Anthem Blue Cross, and Kaiser. I had Kaiser before and it was not helpful. Anthem is the only one that has a PPO. I called Anthem to see if they had any CFS doctors. The sales associate was unable to find me one, probably because it isn't one of their listed specialties. He also told me that if CFS wasn't a condition covered in my contract, treatment for it it wouldn't be covered by the plan. When I asked if CFS was a covered condition, he said I would have to buy the plan first and look at the contract, but that he couldn't tell me before I had bought the plan. I had him repeat this a couple of times to see if I heard it right, and it sounds like I did. Wow. I have not contacted Blue Shield yet. With a PPO, I might be able to go out of network to a specialist, but if CFS was not covered in the contract, this would conveniently protect them from having to pay.
So anyway, this is my first foray into the insurance fray. Is anyone else considering trying to sign up for Obamacare to address CFS issues with these insurances? Any advice on getting PPOs to pay for a CFS diagnosis from a specialist out of network?
Thanks
So I don't have insurance and I am looking into Covered California (Obamacare in CA) around the SF Bay Area, and wondering if it would be helpful at all for CFS. The options are Blue Shield, Anthem Blue Cross, and Kaiser. I had Kaiser before and it was not helpful. Anthem is the only one that has a PPO. I called Anthem to see if they had any CFS doctors. The sales associate was unable to find me one, probably because it isn't one of their listed specialties. He also told me that if CFS wasn't a condition covered in my contract, treatment for it it wouldn't be covered by the plan. When I asked if CFS was a covered condition, he said I would have to buy the plan first and look at the contract, but that he couldn't tell me before I had bought the plan. I had him repeat this a couple of times to see if I heard it right, and it sounds like I did. Wow. I have not contacted Blue Shield yet. With a PPO, I might be able to go out of network to a specialist, but if CFS was not covered in the contract, this would conveniently protect them from having to pay.
So anyway, this is my first foray into the insurance fray. Is anyone else considering trying to sign up for Obamacare to address CFS issues with these insurances? Any advice on getting PPOs to pay for a CFS diagnosis from a specialist out of network?
Thanks