Insurance is calling me to schedule a free in-house med checkup???

[romanianpentecostal]

I’m a healthy 30 y/o male. They are calling me to try and schedule a house call?? What year is this, 1950? They are saying it’s a free in-home visit by a nurse practitioner or a doctor. That it’s included in my insurance plan. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and even if it was included in my plan, why would they call me unsolicited to get this visit, which probably costs them $1k+?

Is it so the nurse can report any risk factors to the insurance company? Would that be a HIPAA violation? Strange. It’s anthem/blue cross

 

[megano]

@romanianpentecostal It sounds like you've got a hospital affiliated plan and they're trying to make sure you're "getting the care you jeed" aka signed up for eveyrthing they can possibly bill for

 

[romanianpentecostal]

@megano I asked them what clinic is this, who are they sending and they said it’s contracted out to Allegiance mobile health, and they gave me a number to call to cancel it.

That’s the only thing I can think of, is that my plan is partially government subsidized so they are just trying to milk taxpayers for unnecessary services? That’s the most sympathetic view that doesn’t have a more sinister motive in terms of privacy

 

[saadraja]

@romanianpentecostal I have a friend who performs these home visits. It is indeed to lower long-term health insurer costs by catching easily-preventable diseases before they get expensive.

What surprises me about your case is that you're 30. She usually visits people 2x your age.

Have you not been to a regular doctor recently?

 

[romanianpentecostal]

@saadraja I see a psychiatrist occasionally to refill my ambien but I haven’t seen my PCP in a couple years. But my bloodwork was good and vitals are always good, I’m in excellent health/weight, but yeah seems like it’s an innocuous thing I suppose.

 

[megano]

@romanianpentecostal That exactly what I think. Occasionally, if you have an unusual diagnosis, that will trigger stuff like this too, insurance companies are rated by the govt for how well they treat people who have higher more unusual needs. Eg advanced kidney disease, or an amputation. You said you're healthy so I'm betting it's exactly what you said. You're a potential cash cow.

 

[jeb711]

@romanianpentecostal For government subsidized plans, they sometimes get paid based on how unhealthy their members are. So they may just want to diagnose you with anything you migjt have thay could make their payment rate go up.

 

[kjbbeliever]

@romanianpentecostal Call the number on the back of your insurance card to confirm they are the ones trying to schedule this visit. While you are doing so ask questions about the program and why they offer. I have heard of this type of program but it was usually for elderly, disabled, or for those with very chronic conditions.

 

[romanianpentecostal]

@kjbbeliever Good advice. The office for blue cross is closed but I called the company they contracted and it seems like a legit service. I just don’t see any benefit for me personally as they can’t do bloodwork, and I take my own vitals and know everything surface level is normal. She says it’s offered to everybody regardless of age and they call because most people are unaware they provide this. But still, I would think it would be in their financial interest if healthy people didn’t know about this, unless they are just getting reimbursed by the federal government. She said nothing gets shared with the insurance company, but I could sign a release to share with my PCP.

 

[iryn40]

@romanianpentecostal BSBSNC tried this with me.
My own Dr's are fine. This just opens the door for them to question legitimate bills.

I refused. They then left me alone

For me, not necessary. I can & did get 2nd opinion on my own, with Dr of my choice , not theirs.
Also can also be something for them to bill the government since you're subsided.

 

[romanianpentecostal]

@iryn40 Interesting. Which, it seems to me these days almost everyone is either insured through their employer or on medicare/medicaid, or they are on some sort of subsidized plan. Even my parent’s plans are subsidized and they have boomer money

 

[iryn40]

@romanianpentecostal Our system is intentionally designed for insurance to be tied to employment. It keeps workers subservient.
Once retired, that no longer works, so Medicare.

Insurers, even non profits are in it for the $$, not healthcare. Executives make millions. Even for Boomers, it's the only way to afford it.

It did used to be worse, but unfortunately, seems to be headed backward.

The Insurance/, healthcare profit motive must be protected. They can afford to pay political lobbyist well.

Healthcare should never have been a political issue, but it is. They made it one

I'm a Boomer, did well. We owned our own stores. About 40 employees. All had to be insured for us to even offer group coverage.
If someone got sick they couldn't get covered anywhere for any existing, or pre-existing condition.
So you definitely couldn't quit, despite how sick you were. Thankfully, a healthy crew.

I'm the one that blew it

I got sick in 97, age 41. Minor issue, Surgical error by Dr, drug resistant infection, etc. Attys said could not sue, state laws too complicated, Dr claimed I was aware of the risk, etc ( I wasn't, long story for another day)

My personal rate went to $2000 a month.
Our employees, all healthy young males, premiums quadrupled.
Insurance company wanted us gone.

The only "out" was to apply & pay for independent policies for our employees. That way they could prove "insured elsewhere"

For me, I had to pay the $2000 premiums, Applied for SSDI. Took 2 years for approval, another 2 to qualify for Medicare.

Went through all our savings, sold what we could. 30 days after we sold the stores ( longest time we could put in the contract) new owners fired all employees, hired new ones at lower pay and no benefits. 40 good jobs lost. Replaced now minimum wage dead ends.

Finally, Obamacare (which was really a negotiated Republican plan) was passed.
I was thrilled

But some people objected.
Took it to The Supreme Court.
Law changed, states could decline Enhanced Medicaid for Disabled persons under 65.

I was 67 by the time my State, NC, accepted Enhanced Medicaid. (This year)
Too late for me. Still sick, but now also broke.

I had left insurance when we built the 2nd store. Had an Associate in Claims law.

I knew the tricks, learned a lot more, but stll couldn't climb out.

Now "certain people" want to go back in time. They agree it's broken, but want to make it worse, not better.
We, as a people, should be better than this

 

[romanianpentecostal]

@iryn40 Reread this old thread. You’ve been through a lot. Doesn’t it feel great to build something with your two hands, grow a community, provide for families, and then be hacked away and gutted by these bureaucrat parasitical petty tyrant nerds. With their fake jobs looking at spreadsheets all day in an ergonomic chair. I bet they have great healthcare.

 

[godjesuschildrashik]

@romanianpentecostal Thank you for your response. 1st day home from over a month in hospital, then skilled nursing for "Rehab"

The completion and non cooperation between hospital systems is endangering lives.

Another failed system.
Edit I answered with a recently created alt account. Too tired to fix it, but thank you.

 

[amona]

@kjbbeliever OP seems to have a chronic condition if he needs a regular refill of ambien. It may be sleep related. It could be one of the reasons why this visit has been scheduled.

 

[rootsandwings]

@romanianpentecostal It's not a scam, or at least not always a scam. The insurance companies have clued into the fact it's cheaper to provide care if you do some preventative work. They are just trying to get ahead of any issues, to same themselves money, but that's good for both of you. It's not mandatory.

 

[madanitsuj]

@rootsandwings My primary care physician already oversees my healthcare and preventative work. Her office schedules me with other specialists that I see every five years or so for well visits.

Scheduling a home care visit sounds fishy. It's overkill for my healthcare.

They even offered me $100 if I agree to do it. I get calls at least twice a week. The callers push really hard for me to do it, even though I tell them that I'm up to date on all my health care visits. Plus, I get flyers in the mail offering money to accept home visits. My guess is that my health care provider makes money off of this somehow...and that there is an alterior motive for a home visit.

Nothing about this feels right

 

[virtuouswomenmuyenga]

@romanianpentecostal I had the same thing happen to me. BCBS calls me every 3 months to try and push an in home health check up. I stopped answering the calls because they don't seem to be able to take no for an answer.

I go to my doctor regularly and don't need insurance interfering in my health care.

 

[deanerenata32]

@romanianpentecostal I used to schedule these. It’s called a Health Risk Assessment.

The reason insurance companies schedule these is you either:

• have had multiple trips to the ER and/or hospital in a very short period of time….
• OR you have multiple chronic conditions and take medications for them.

You are in a higher risk category in comparison to other people in your age group, and they want to reduce this risk (and therefore save themselves money) to identify any issues you may be having. People go to the doctor and forget to ask questions, or forget the name of a medication they’re taking, etc so coming to your home provides an alternate setting where you may be more willing to discuss issues.

I’m not sure why you think it would be a HIPAA violation for your insurance company to confirm what they already know about you in an attempt to reduce your healthcare costs.

It is actually a valuable service if you have questions or have multiple health issues, but you can also decline. No biggie.

 

[romanianpentecostal]

@deanerenata32 Thanks for the info. I don’t know how the industry works which is why I’m asking. Not sure why I’d be deemed higher risk aside from the fact I see a psychiatrist occasionally. I wondered that since they’re contracted directly by the insurance company, it could be under the guise of a check-in for just your benefit, where you might confide that you’re drinking more these days or self-administering non-FDA approved peptides or perhaps your house is messy and full of junk food, they note this and use this information in some risk assessment to justify not underwriting your policy next year or raising your premium.