| I think the whole problem is "it depends on your plan." I had to select a healthcare plan (an idea which I found rather strange) and spent many happy hours in October curled up with countless HMO/PPO/WTF policy books, looking into exactly these details. I have a history of mental illness and addiction, and my wife came within about 12 hours of death during a two month hospital stay earlier this year, so minor questions like "can I receive appropriate treatment for a potentially life-threatening illness?" have taken on an urgency that they did not possess when I was younger. Is abortion covered? I still haven't found an answer there despite poring over my plan manuals. My wife has not been able to take birth control until very recently and we are not in a financial situation to be able to care for an infant. Did I click the right button in my convenient private healthcare web app? Dental, weirdly enough, is not actually covered under Canadian universal healthcare, despite the relationship between dental health and seemingly-unrelated things like cardiovascular health (seriously!). It's pretty strange. If I had any actionable advice to offer, it would be to look into this crap now. Some of the plans on offer were shockingly bad, despite the price tag - "we pay up to 75% of your hospital bill!" Fantastic. My wife had her appendix out in Florida on vacation, the surgeon lost a few staples in her abdomen, and next thing you know, she's looking at a $250,000 bill (covered by travel insurance, thankfully). $250,000 * 0.25 = $62,500. Not checking this stuff out could cost you - health problems strike when you least expect them . |
> If I had any actionable advice to offer, it would be to look into this crap now.
Is that still relevant given that I don't have options? My company only offers one plan (and they cover the monthly cost, so I might as well take it). I'm wondering if there are situations where knowing what is covered would change my actions, even if I can't change which plan I'm using.