Anyone here on ghi?

amother

Emerald

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 10:13 am

I'm a doctor and absolutely despise dealing with patients who have GHI. Their reimbursement rates are so low that I feel taken advantage of and try to avoid them as much as possible. Still, free is free. Just check the terms and conditions of the network, deductibles, etc.

amother

Slategray

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 10:28 am

amother wrote:

If I would have an emergency, chas v'sholom, would I be able to find a decent doctor? If I can't, I'm not sure if it will be worth the savings?

amother

Emerald

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 10:58 am

The absolute top doctors may not take it, but I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding somebody more than capable and competent. As I said, I take it too (my hospital's decision, it certainly wouldn't be mine!), just that I resent it. I can't speak for other doctors, and as long as they're park of the network, which is generally reasonably extensive, you should be fine.

amother

Aubergine

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 11:32 am

amother wrote:

Just as a side note, many "top doctors" don't take any insurance, and will only see patients with Out of Network benefits.

amother

Aubergine

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 11:34 am

momx6 wrote:

I have ghi (emblem health). I also work for the city. Its ok, not the greatest insurance but considering I'm not paying for it, I'm happy.

I was always under the impression of the 2 Emblem plans that GHI was the higher/better plan--and most doctors that I've been interested took HIP--and that was usually Medicaid (though just as I was leaving medicaid/CHP things kind of went wacky), never had a problem with GHI.

watergirl

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 12:40 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you for being honest on this thread, it’s very interesting to me even though the topic itself is not relevant to me - I dont have ghi and am not in ny. Can I ask you question? Do you know which health insurance it’s patient is on? When I had medical assistance, I suspected that my doctors didn’t treat me is nicely because they resented having me as a patient due to the low reimbursement rates. A few doctors even made a comment or two that I was really uncomfortable with. Do you know what insurance each patient has? If so, do you think your patience feel the resentment?

amother

Emerald

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 12:52 pm

Yes, I know what insurance they have. I certainly try my best to be professional and treat all patients equally and give them the best care and advice I can irrespective of their insurance.

That doesn't take away from the fact that I'm also human and resentful when I realize how much time I spent with a certain patient and how I'm being paid a tiny fraction of what I would get if they had any other insurance, which makes me feeltaken advantage of. I can't speak for other doctors, and have never discussed the issue with them.

amother

Blush

Thu, Oct 26 2017, 12:55 pm

I work for the NYC DOE and have GHI insurance. I also know many other people who work for the DOE who also have GHI. We have had it for 6 years and so far B"H have never had any problems. There are no monthly premiums and no deductibles to meet before insurance kicks in. Co-pays are pretty reasonable ($15 for regular doctors/labs $20 for specialists, when I had a baby the hospital stay was only $300). So far we have not had any problem finding doctors that take our insurance. Now it's possible that if chas v'shalom you needed a top doctor that they wouldn't take it but I have a feeling that in that case most insurances wouldn't cover it. There are a few optional riders that you can opt in for that don't cost too much per month (there's one for prescriptions which I don't get since I get that through the UFT and someone just told me that there's one that covers part of the cost for out of network doctors) so you can look into those.
I would say that you should call all your current doctors and make sure they take it. You can't foresee every eventuality so there's no way to know if maybe, possibly at some point in the future you might need to use a doctor that isn't covered. As long as it meets your needs for now go for it.

amother

Slategray

Fri, Oct 27 2017, 10:34 am

Thank you so much for all your replies!

I'm going to check that my primary doctors accept GHI (I think they do), and then I'll switch. I will be saving over $12,000 a year this way, so thank you!

Classicookie

Fri, Oct 27 2017, 10:44 am

We had ghi emblem health with quala care I loved it and miss it all my kids drs took it and we had a 0 copay for children so taking my child who had a lot of medical issues at the time to all the specialist did not cast me an arm and leg. I find calling my drs before we switched helps to find out if the insurance will work out not that I had much choices I have to go with what she work offers.