My husband and I signed up for BCBS of Illinois PPO+ plan through his work this year. I started seeing a physiatrist who was in network. When my claim was submitted, they only approved a discount from $360 to $219 leaving me having to pay $219 out of pocket. I previously had United Healthcare from my last company and with that insurance my physiatry appointments were only $30. I have read through our policy agreement but have to admit, I have no idea what I am reading. Can someone help explain what is different between my currently BCBS plan that only approves a discount vs other plans who only make you pay the co-pay? Thank you!

I have a BCBS of Illinois community health plan, and I've been looking to find a dermatologist that's in network and when I go on the website look under the "in network" tab, everyone I call says they do not accept my insurence. This isn't the first time I've dealt with this either... Even when I call and get a list from that it's the same story. Am I doing something wrong? By the sounds of it a lot of the offices I call make it seem like they asked to be removed from these lists and never were.

I was charged $2500 for an ultrasound required for my high risk pregnancy. My insurance provider (BCBS of IL) states that that my portion owed is $0, due to "**Discounts Applied -** Your BCBSIL plan has negotiated cost savings for you with your provider. You may still need to pay part of the bill. Check Details of Services for details of what you may owe." Under details of services, everything states I am responsible for $0. There is no copy of the EOB for this charge - every time I look it says it is "not available at this time." In the meantime I have received a bill from the in-network hospital, stating I am responsible for the full $2500 because my insurance did not cover it. I actually have 3 similar bills just like this, but only including one for simplicity of questions asked. I plan to call my BCBSIL tomorrow, but what are some questions I should ask here? Should I be verifying my cost owed is $0 and then having them contact the hospital directly to refute the bill? Or do I need to contact the hospital directly? Or is there a chance I am actually responsible here? I haven't seen this "discounts applied" verbiage before, so I am a little confused.