Veriton Insurance Group

Modern Insurance Myths — Part 7
“We should go with Blue Cross Blue Shield… it’s the best.”
I have heard this numerous times over the years, “Let’s just go with BCBS. Everyone knows them.” And it’s understandable. They’ve been around for nearly 100 years. In Georgia, they’ve been the dominant name in the market for decades and have the largest provider network in the state.

So, it feels like the safe choice. But here’s the reality: Brand recognition ≠ best fit.

Blue Cross is a strong carrier for sure. But so are a lot of others. And depending on your company, your employees, and your goals…BCBS might not be the best option for you.

When you strip away the logo, what actually matters is:
• Network access in your specific area
• How competitive the pricing is for your group
• Plan design flexibility
• Customer service experience
• How claims are handled

I’ve seen plenty of situations where:
• Another carrier had the same doctors… at a lower cost
• A “less known” carrier had better service
• Or a different network actually fit the employees better

But none of that gets considered if the decision starts with: “Let’s just go with the name we recognize.”

That’s like choosing a restaurant because you’ve heard of it, not because the food is actually better. For business owners, this is where things go sideways. Because picking a carrier based on brand feels safe, but it’s not necessarily strategic.

The goal shouldn’t be to choose the most recognizable name. It should be to choose the plan that actually works best for your team. Because in group health benefits, the logo on the card matters a lot less than people think.

Modern Insurance Myths - Part 2

Paying more with insurance?

Last year, I got into an argument with a guy while on an enrollment, which is probably not what you should do when you’re trying to get someone to enroll an in insurance plan, but he was frustrated that his doctor was charging him more for the same service with insurance than when he was paying cash.

He was rightly frustrated. He said, “What’s the point of even having it?”
I pulled up his plan, to see what was going on. And the crazy thing is, his plan was working exactly the way it was designed to.
Same doctor. Same service.

But the billed rate through insurance was higher than the cash price. So, in his mind it’s the insurance company that is the problem in this scenario.
But that’s not what the real problem was. The true problem was that the doctor was charging him more money because insurance was involved. He was only paying $90 cash for a primary care visit plus blood work, but when he signed up for insurance he was being charged $180.
He obviously felt ripped off; I would too, I mean who wouldn’t.

The only problem was that he was blaming the wrong person. It didn’t occur to him that he should ask his doctor “Why are you charging me twice as much with insurance?”. Because the dirty little secret is that providers get paid a negotiated rate on top of your copay and anything extra that you are billed. That means the provider gets paid more than what they charge for the cash price from the insurance carrier and charge the individual an additional price on top of what the carrier paid.

When I pointed that out to the guy I was arguing with, he didn’t have an answer. Because everyone thinks that insurance carrier is the problem with the healthcare system. I’m not saying that insurance carriers are as pure as the wind driven snow, but providers are the ones that set the costs, not the carriers.

This is the reason everyone gets mad at the system. Not because it doesn’t work. But because they don’t understand how the system really works.

Thank you from one of our carriers, Colonial Life for this amazing Holiday Basket!

As a business owner you can offer voluntary benefits to your employees at no cost to the employer. Voluntary Benefits can help protect employees’ finances when unforeseen medical bills arise. Please reach out for more information.