Community Chat

[Jordan2]

On 11/23/2014 terrier3 said:

On 11/23/2014 jordan2 said: Hi terrier3! I live in Queens, New York. I was wondering if you can tell me about Oscar health insurance? I was also looking at Health Republic (I think that's what it's called) and was told by 2 offices that one is the worst. I have an Empire gold plan I'm not too happy with. I'm thinking of going with a platinum plan but really don't want to spend more than $700 a month as I purchase insurance myself. Thank you for any help you can offer.

I sell insurance in WNY, but I can tell you that Oscar has the same base as Health Republic.

They are both new companies, that basically undercut the established firms, keeping their rates lower. Since they both use the same provider network, I'd be a little suspect of Oscar - HR has a lot of complaints here too, with providers not getting paid.

I think you need to figure out how healthy you are and how often you see a doctor (and how many meds you are on). The healthier you are, the more the silver & bronze plans make sense. Also, do you live part of the year in another state? If you do, the PPO plans make sense. If you are basically here, check to see if you can be treated out of network in an emergency.

I spoke with a man who was visited his son in PA. He had a medical emergency - chest pains. He called Health Republic and they said he would have to either drive back home (3 hours) or pay for the PA emergency room entirely himself!!! He actually drove home. Luckily it was heartburn - not a heart attack.

Empire is part of the Blue network - you can be go to any emergency room and get treated as if you are home.

See the NY Magazine article on Oscar in my earlier post...

Thank you for the article. I think Oscar is too "hip" for me and I rather go with a more established company. I probably will look at some more options before deciding. Thanks again.