DC 37 Med Team has switched its
health insurance carrier in an effort to control escalating costs and
still offer participants a quality medical plan. On June 9, the Board
of Trustees of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan accepted a proposal
from GHI, which will provide both medical and hospital services.
GHI was chosen over the Health Insurance Plan and Empire Blue Cross
and Blue Shield, the previous carrier, whose renewal price exceeded
the citys basic health insurance obligation.
Beginning July 1, Med Team participants will be enrolled automatically
in GHIs Preferred Provider Organization. In a PPO, participants
have a financial incentive to use a network of physicians who accept
the insurance carriers rates. Members of the plan may also receive
care from an out-of-network provider. But those services are subject
to a higher deductible, greater co-payments for office visits and lower
reimbursements.
The Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield exclusive provider organization
used until now by DC 37 Med Team did not cover out-of-network care,
but it offered a large, nationwide network of physicians. This
is a good program as long as you stay in the network, said Rosaria
R. Esperon, administrator of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan.
For people who stay in-network, The GHI PPO offers very reasonable
out-of-pocket expenses, said Willie Chang, Med Team administrator.
The trade-off we made for being able to offer an affordable in-network
program was, quite frankly, to accept a costly out-of-network program.
In GHI, participants are responsible for a $10 co-pay for in-network
services. The out-of-network annual deductible is $2,500 for individuals
and $5,000 for families. The switch in carriers will be a burden to
the 150 Med Team participants who dont live in New York or New
Jersey, which will be the GHI Med Team service area.
Participants from outside New York and New Jersey who wish to explore
other healthcare options should contact the DC 37 Med Team Unit at DC
37 headquarters (212) 815-1313. DC 37 Med Team and GHI sent participants
a packet with information about the new plan in June.
For more information
Participants may inquire about the changes by calling the DC 37 Med
Team Unit at (212) 815-1313 or GHI at (212) 501-4444 weekdays from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. Information, including a list of providers, is also available
on the GHI Web site at www.ghi.com.
Soon, GHI will send participants a membership card to use for office
and hospital visits.