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by vrperson
2033 days ago
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But will health care providers adjust to your insurance? Here in Germany, you get treated differently in some places if you have private insurance. I have actually avoided private insurance because I worried about too many unnecessary treatments (not sure if that was a good trade off - maybe if one day I'll get seriously ill, I'll regret that choice). A bit annoying is that often the doctors won't even tell you that they are not suggesting a certain treatment because it wouldn't be covered by public insurance. But what I mean is, possibly your treatment will somehow get cheaper once you are in the second stage of your insurance plan? |
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most health insurance plans make a distinction between "in network" and "out of network" providers. "in network" basically means your insurance has already negotiated favorable prices with that doctor. so the simple answer to your question is yes. if the doctor is "in network" they will probably charge you less than they would charge an "out of network" patient. if I go to an "in network" doctor but haven't used up my deductible yet, I still pay the "in network" price. if you get a very large bill, I suspect there is further negotiation that takes place behind the scenes.
> A bit annoying is that often the doctors won't even tell you that they are not suggesting a certain treatment because it wouldn't be covered by public insurance.
in my experience, US doctors usually treat the details of insurance coverage as the patient's responsibility. the doctor probably doesn't know exactly what is/isn't covered by your specific plan, so I doubt that they would change their recommendations based on your insurance. a good doctor will certainly be sensitive to the fact that costs matter, so they might let you know that a cheaper generic drug exists or suggest that you try a certain treatment first because it is cheaper.
aside from the cost, I don't think there's any downside to having private insurance in the US.