I thought I'd post a follow up to my family's birth experience at the end of June. The baby is doing great (photos forthcoming), no issues other than a low birth weight which is rapidly going away as she gets bigger.
Well, you can review our harrowing experience dealing with the hospital and medical systems here in Lancaster County. I wish I could say that we'd experienced some positive feedback from Ephrata Hospital, but alas they sent a couple of form letters reiterating their "health of the baby" fear-tactic excuse for failing for denying us admittance on June 27th. Their last letter from mid-June had conveniently ignored my concern at their lack of personal follow-up after denying us admittance. Oh, well, I imagine they hope we'll just "go away" and they can get on with denying maternity patients their basic rights to a birth of their choosing...more on that as we consult an attorney. Somebody's going to have to break this system up.
So we had our baby at home! Everything went great. Except, that Aetna decided to decline our claim for the $1,500 fee charged by the birthing center. We just saved them at least $10,000 and probably $18,000 in hospital bills (had we delivered in hospital or even had a C-section). Nope - they say we used a "non-network" provider.
So we appealed in mid-July. Again, Aetna denies us, this time reiterating their policy AND claiming that "home births" are not covered by our "Aetna Advantage HMO" self-employed insurance policy. !!!! Sometimes you just want to scream...by the way, did I mention the $800 monthly premium for this priveleged service?
This, on top of their absolutely poor prescription drug plan (try 0% on basic meds - I experienced it TODAY), has led me to post this warning to avoid Aetna Advantage HMO Plans as being horrible for self-employed individuals. Earlier this year I posted about which plans would be good for Realtors and other SE real estate pros. Forget Aetna! I'll be changing my policy as soon as I can this month.
I hate being so negative but if I can save one realtor from choosing this poor company, it will be worth it. Good luck shopping for insurance!
Comments(4)