Anyone else have problems with this health insurance company?

Question

Beechstreet....just curious..they have given me nothing but grief and I was just looking to see if anyone else out there had issues...no need to be specific..I'm just bitchin!!! lol

Answer 1

I had a client who was looking at those guys and upon further review, she decided against it and went with Anthem - a well known insurer.  Looks like she made the right decision.  You can view quotes with reputable insurance companies here if you are in the market:

http://www.ohioinsureplan.com/index.php/...

Answer 2

They are NOT an insurance company.  When I check their website, they have carefully avoided the word INSURANCE.  They refer to their "network" and their "plan".  

They are PROBABLY selling you a list.  My guess is, you've bought into a DISCOUNT plan, that doesn't pay anything at all.  NOT INSURANCE.  It's also possible that they are a third party administrator.

One thing for sure, they are NOT an insurance company - I checked with AM Best.

Answer 3

I'm quite familiar with Beech Street.  They are a legitimate PPO network.  (But, as someone pointed out, not an insurance company.)

They are a large national provider network, but not the actual insurer.  A patient ends up with access through the Beech Street PPO network in one of 2 ways...

1)  An independent insurance company (TPA) or self-funded employer uses Beech Street's PPO network, because that insurer doesn't have its own signed contracts with providers.  Beech Street receives and prices the claims according to the provider's contract.  Then the actual insurance company pays the claims according to Beech Street's pricing.  (The advantage for the TPA/insurer is that they have access to a discounted rate from the provider's billed charges vs. having to pay the full billed charge.)

2)  Many regional health insurers use Beech Street as a "travel network."  For example, I used to work for one of the largest health insurers in the Ohio/Indiana/Michigan area.  We had our own direct contracts with doctors/hospitals in our region, and our members who happened to need care outside of OH/IN/MI could access the Beech Street network in other states and still be considered "in-network."  (There are several large PPO networks that do this sort of business...in addition to Beech Street, there's Multiplan, First Health, and Private HealthCare Systems.)

Currently, I work for a large hospital system, and we are contracted with Beech Street.  See a lot of patients through them.  Generally, its because the patient's employer is self-funded and has access to Beech Street's provider network.  (But the employer is the one who actually pays the claims...Beech Street just supplies the list of "in-network" providers.)

They are a legitimate company...not a discount network, as someone above guessed they might be.  However, it is definitely correct that they aren't specifically an insurance company.  

If you're having trouble with Beech Street, you may want to find out what TPA or self-insured employer is actually responsible for paying your claims.  Most likely, that's the group you need to contact to get any resolution to the problem you're having.