Bill Katz

Now that I've left Stanford and ventured into self-funded entrepreneurial waters, I have the joy of paying the full cost for medical insurance. And thanks to a breakdown of what I'm paying for, I discovered it's not just "medical" insurance on the bill. There's a mental health component that usually isn't broken out. My medical insurance bundles this component into the overall plan and outsources the service.

Almost $40/month goes to United Behavioral Health, a service my wife and I will not use and an expense we'd like to chop. I complained to our COBRA representative about this bundled insurance and was told I can't remove it without stopping medical coverage. She explained to me it would be like saying "My wife and I will never need heart surgery." Sorry, I know the difference between surgical and much fuzzier psychiatric services, and even psychiatric consults would probably be covered under the regular medical plan. According to my COBRA representative, all medical plans bundle in this kind of behavioral health coverage, which is shocking given dental coverage is not provided and seems comparable in cost. A dental plan is much more valuable to us. Another example of our broken and overly complex health insurance system.