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big problem with UNITED HEALTHCARE INS. changes!!!

dragonfly's picture

I want to make this short and easy to understand so i will try my best. united healthcare changed the way we pay for doctor visits we now have to use a credit card they issued. the money that goes into this card is deposited by my husband and there has to be plenty cause this is now the only method of payment.

my concern is does my husband now have to pay for SD dr visits besides having to pay for required child support and medical ins? SD doesnt visit since i had my second child who is now 1 year old. never calls dad but yesterday she did cause she needed the card to pay for contact lenses and glasses. he ended up paying 96 dollars. this is really frustrating cause we are in the process of losing our home and we are low on cash and now it seems that he has to make an extra payment. SD is constantly going to dr (does not seem like a sick child at all) and getting the best and most expenssive glasses aaaaand now contacts.

is there anyone out there with this UNITED HEALTHCARE problem?

buttercookie's picture

Sounds like you have a health savings account. A lot of employers are going towards HSA's because the premiums are cheaper. I know my husbands work has a PPO plan that has a HSA attached. The premiums are cheaper due the the deductible being higher with what you save in premiums going towards the HSA. There is also a HMO option from his work. His work offers Blue Cross Blue Shield which we currently have. Next year we are going to go with my employees during open enrollment. We choose not to take my work's insurance for a few reasons but basically the coverage is identical and my work is United Health Care. I'm not fond of HSA accounts. We are only offered HSAs thats why we didn't take the coverage. Next year now that I understand them more and prefer the flexibility of not being under a HMO where you don't always get the best health care or even your own doctor I'm going with my work insurance. This is not a United Health care complaint its an insurance industry issue they are all leaning towards HSA and yes you would pay your portion of what you own on your sd's deductible out of the Debit card that is attached to the HSA.

dragonfly's picture

she is 12 so her understanding of daddy is that he is a bottomless pit of money.

caregiver1127's picture

That money needs to be divided between all of you make sure that BM knows that there is a certain amount for SD and if her requests go over than BM needs to come up with the money this is not an ATM - it is for true medical needs. End of story she does not get the card just because she asks and furthermore if she is only 8 have whatever bills she needs come to your house as well because if BM gets the number then you are in trouble.

PeanutandSons's picture

Any expense she wants to charge to the card, she needs to show up with cash for when she picks up the card. If bm is supposed to be covering these expenses, she needs to be reimbursing for them.

Also, call the insurance company and see if bm is able to get and load her own card with her own money. You can't possibly be the first family in this situation with them.

dragonfly's picture

thats the first thing that came to mind " we cant possible be the only ones in this situation". ill call insurance to see if this is possible.

herewegoagain's picture

Ah, what a nightmare. We have it worse with that stupid HSA...we put in money, they give us the card and then when we try to use it, 99% of places here don't take the card!!! So we have to submit all kinds of receipts and stuff and even then, because many receipts are in spanish, they won't take them! sigh We lost out on 250USD last year because of it...it is a nightmare.

dragonfly's picture

i understand you we are barely starting with the new changes and already i dont like it.

my.kids.mom's picture

The solution to this is bm putting the money onto the card, or reimbursing you for expenses. I know that is a pain, but there's always court if you need to collect.

dragonfly's picture

im willing to hire an attorney if we need to. im sure BM will say she cant afford paying the co pay but when it comes to talking about who makes more money she says its her :? :?

buttercookie's picture

solution is pay for your half of the expenses with the card. Have BM pay her half however she chooses. And Most chain pharmacies take these HSA debit cards. even walmart takes them. They can be used for bandaids tylenol anything that can be deemed health related so don't loose sight of the card. Some of them aren't clearly marked they are HSA. My boss used hers to buy non medical stuff when she had way too much on hers when she was paying out of pocket on her own debit card because she was using the wrong card.

dragonfly's picture

i just looked it up and you are right about the purchases that can me made with the card. BM is stole from her parents so i have no doubt in my mind she will steal from us.

dragonfly's picture

thanks everybody for your comments!!! one more question:

is the non custodial parent required to pay co pays?

dragonfly's picture

lucky you! my SD is in the stage of wanting the most and new expensive things out there (wait she has always been like that)

Newstep's picture

In our case its who ever takes SD to the doctor pays the co-pay and prescription cost if any. SO carries SD on his insurance and pays the premium every month. Before SO was paying for everything 100% and BM was running SD to the doctor and the ER a few times a month. For some BS reason one time it was a trip to the ER for a bug bite. To top it off she had already taken her to the doctor earlier in the day for said bug bite. It was out of control. Now that she has to pay if she takes her she hasn't taken her once!! Go figure :O So now SD only goes to the doctor if she is sick or for her yearly check up.

dragonfly's picture

we never take SD to dr since she doesnt visit since my second baby was born and before that visitation was also rare. when SD would get sick or at least thats what BM would say she would never send medication. oh well! BM has been paying for co pays when ever she is not covered my medicaid. this time i guess there was no medicaid and if there was medicaid wouldnt pay for the expensive contact lenses and glasses that SD picked so she called daddy to cough up the money. she does not call him she texts him like once a month if lucky. my DH calls her but she doesnt answer oh but on saturday she was very communicative with him.