I’m conducting some research on the health insurance market and am particularly interested in the experience of immigrants.

This is for a school project.

I’d really appreciate any responses to these questions:

If you currently have health insurance, why did you choose that insurer/plan?

If you don’t have coverage, what options are available to you?

Is it difficult to find effective healthcare options that are both in coverage and available?

What personal changes would you like to see (in either the healthcare or insurance aspects)?

  • User_4272894@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ll answer for me, and 70% of Americans:

    1. It was the only plan offered by my employer. Vision and dental insurance are typically optional extras, but medical is mandatory. Some jobs provide a choice between one or two different insurances, or a good/better/best plan. My wife (who is on a different plan than me, because she works elsewhere and neither of our jobs covers family members at a reasonable discount) selected the “better” option because she takes a few prescriptions and it works out to be cheaper long term.
    2. N/A (but the answer is the affordable care act)
    3. Insurance providers have a website where you can search for “in network doctors” by specialty. When I joined my current network, there were exactly two primary care doctors within 20 minutes of my home. Vision (which is separate insurance, generally) is often much easier to find. Dental (which again is separate insurance, often) is usually even harder to find a provider, in my experience. At my last job I could pay $200/month for insurance accepted by a dentist in my town, or $12/mo for dental insurance where the nearest dentist was over two hours away.
    4. I would prefer the entire system was scrapped and replaced with government healthcare at low to no cost, including prescriptions, dental, vision, and mental health.
    • scytale@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I think this would be the answer word-for-word by any immigrant who moved to the US for white-collar work.

    • msbeta1421@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Thanks so much! Would an improvement to the website interface or a means to clarify your coverage options make a difference to you (or anyone you know)?

      Agree the system is bogus; I’m trying to zero in on ways to help people navigate the process, including those without employer sponsored programs.