Fewer choices and higher premiums
On Oct. 14 at 11:15 p.m. my husband needed to go to an acute care center near our home in Grayslake.
He had a cut that was bleeding badly. Well, guess what? Condell's 24-hour acute care center in Gurnee would not accept our Blue Cross /Blue Shield insurance.
We were shocked. We were not even notified by his employer.
We then went to the Lake Forest acute care center in Grayslake, and it was already closed.
So, my only other choice was Vista. Our only other choice was Lake Forest Hospital which is far away.
We pay a lot of money for our Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO insurance, and now we are very limited on where we can go for treatment.
Then the Illinois hospital approval board keeps saying we don't need another hospital in Lake County!
Who are they kidding?
If we try to go to a local hospital, where am I supposed to go? Especially during rush hour! Going to Lake Forest Hospital is quite a drive, and during rush hour it takes an hour to drive there.
Is Blue Cross/Blue Shield going to ever resolve the Condell problem? The insurance premium we pay is not worth what it was last month now that a large percentage of local health care providers are no longer covered.
We did receive an e-mail notice today, Oct. 5, from his employer with a note saying that Condell will no longer be covered, and our premium is going to increase by 9 percent in 2008.
I find it interesting that with less choices we are now going to pay higher premiums.
Susan Green
Grayslake