Pre-Existing Conditions - If You're over 50, You Haz 'Em.

[MineralMan]

47. You definitely need to confirm that everyone's in system if

you're going to have surgery. My wife recently had a hip replacement. To avoid the risk of a non-network problem, she had to have it done in an Allina hospital (United in St. Paul) where it was guaranteed that no non-network people would be involved. If you need immediate surgery, that could be more difficult, but you can make certain that everyone's in network beforehand and get that in writing.

Prior planning for where to go if you have an emergency should be job one, long before any such emergency occurs. Then, you tell the ambulance what hospital to take you too. Once you're covered, you should call the supplement insurer which hospitals are in their system and ask whether anyone who might be involved in an emergency is out of network. The major health system hospitals generally only work with in-system people, even on an emergency basis.

Fortunately in Minnesota, we're blessed with a great range of major networks that own their own hospitals. Get started by switching to one of the networks multi-specialty clinics for regular healthcare needs, and use the network's hospital and you'll be OK.

It's not too difficult to do, but you have to have that information in advance of an emergency need. Then, when you have to call 911, you tell the ambulance which hospital is your choice or have your significant other do it if you can't. That will prevent almost all issues. In Minnesota, the healthcare network you choose should be one of the major ones. That way, you can access any specialist needs and any hospital or surgery issues within that covered network.

Choosing your healthcare network before choosing a supplement coverage is really the most important issue. BS/BC of Minnesota has arrangement with more networks that the others, simply because of their size. I like Allina, but HealthEast is also very good, based on my discussions with friends.