Need help comparing health insurance plans – moving MA to FL
Hi all,
I posted earlier but was not specific enough to receive meaningful help. I appreciate all who chimed in on that one and thanks in advance for any help on this one!
We are two adults with a 2y/o and another baby on the way. Non smokers. No weird health conditions or anything. All pretty normal or average. No change in income.
Our man concern is that Florida health insurance appears to generally be more expensive than comparable Massachusetts coverage.
Ashamedly, I must admit we know little to nothing about choosing coverage; so it is very possible there is something I am completely misunderstanding about the costs. I won’t be offended if you tell me we previously had shit coverage, and feel free to explain it to me like I’m five.
We were happy with our Massachusetts plan; it met our needs and we found the premium reasonable. Summary of benefits for MA plan: https://tuftshealthplan.com/documents/members/plans/2022-thpp-direct-sbcs/2022-direct-connectorcare-iii-sbc . According to wife, the premium for that plan after tax credits cost us $115 per month.
Looking quickly at Florida plans that match our needs (she has some doctors she wants to see for obgyn and pediatrician, and I take ADHD meds) it all seems more expensive by several multiples…Maybe this has to do with how I sorted the list of coverage options, or maybe it’s about the filters we applied (e.g., for the specific docs/meds), but the prices seem high across the board regardless of how I sort/filter the plans.
Also, I clearly do not understand the difference in coverage options. For example, below are two plans–a “gold” plan, and a “silver” plan. The gold costs $401 and the silver costs $400.5, but the gold appears superior in all respects readily observable by me.
Gold: https://cdn1.brighthealthplan.com/docs/2022_SBCs/SBC_ENG_BRIGHTHEALTH_12379FL0010142_01_20220101.pdf
Silver: https://cdn1.brighthealthplan.com/docs/2022_SBCs/SBC_ENG_BRIGHTHEALTH_12379FL0010067_01_20220101.pdf
Can someone help me understand the difference?
Here is the plan with the lowest monthly premium ($125) and a zero deductible: https://cdn1.brighthealthplan.com/docs/2022_SBCs/SBC_ENG_BRIGHTHEALTH_12379FL0010255_01_20220101.pdf
Under that plan, it would cost Peg $6k to have a baby. Back in MA, under our previous plan, it cost Peg only $300 to have a baby.
Am I wrong to look for a plan with a zero deductible? We go to urgent care sometimes for random things, the ER less frequently but maybe once a year or every other year or couple of years? Mental health services might be something we value currently or in the near future. We do plan on having a baby, so the cost of that is very important to us.
I’m sure there’s tons of stuff I’m forgetting but just ask me and I will update the post. My main question for all of this is, is health insurance in Florida generally more expensive for comparable coverage than Massachusetts and why. If it isn’t, then why does it seem like no matter what plan we choose it costs significantly more for Peg to have a baby.
