Want to upgrade plan with BCBS of IL will there be a problem?

[obs]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

I am currently insured with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, and so is my mom and brother. We all have individual accounts, and all three of us have the Blue Value Plan(PPO), which has no copay for doctor visits and prescriptions. But we want to upgrade to the Blue Choice Select or the Select Blue Advantage, both of which have a 30 dollar copay for doctor visits and 10 copay for gen prescriptions.

When we first applied for insurance we were very inexperienced because we never had it before. We trusted the insurance agent and went with his word, he kept pushing for us to get the Blue Value Plan. Now that I look at it, I do not know why he did so, for me in particular, Blue Value is 86 dollars per month and Blue Choice is 90. Do these agents have some kind of incentive to get people to sign up for crappy plans?

Now the question is if we will have problems upgrading. First off, I am about to start a course of accutane for acne. While on this powerful drug, will there be problems upgrading to a plan which will basically pay for the drug? Accutane is very expensive.

My mom has been taking actonel for her osteoporosis for more then have a year now. Will she have problems?

Thank you for your replies.

[cbg]

The FA crystal ball is broken. We cannot anticipate what, if any, problems you will encounter. You'll need to talk to someone in Member Services at BCBS.

Stand by for Timmaayy to deliver his commercial for Section 105 plans.

[ecmst12]

They have individual plans, Timmaaayyy will be thrilled.

[TIMMAAYY]

You are all so helpful, I don't know what this place would do without you.

To the original poster, if you are planning on upgrading, you will most likely have to reapply. If you were going the other way, raising a deductible, lower benefits, etc. it's a pretty simple change. Plan on refilling out an application. Hopefully you still have a copy of it for your current plan; makes it easier.

With regard to agents having preferences for certain plans, it's difficult to say. However, from time to time the carriers do offer incentives for certain plans being sold, such as X amount of dollars per new enrollee, etc.

With regard to your prescription, it may or may not be an issue. Now that they have your history, they will be able to rate you accordingly for it, or they could exclude it from coverage. You won't know until you re-apply for the upgrade. If for some reason you don't like what they come back with, you don't have to take it, and you can stay on your current plan.

To the rest of you, you mock what you don't understand.

[cbg]

To the rest of you, you mock what you don't understand

That is a matter of opinion. I have nothing against them in their place, I'm just sick of your dragging them into every question regardless of whether it fits in the question or not. Nor do I think they are the be all and end all solution to every problem the way you appear to.

[TIMMAAYY]

Notice I didn't "drag it in" here?

If you want to bicker about something, send a PM.

Otherwise, why not stick to helping someone out, rather than cackling like an old hen?

EDIT

To the original poster, something else you might want to look at before upgrading. Read both plans, line by line, word for word, and compare what they cover, how it's covered, and coverage limits. There could be some other differences in there you haven't caught, not just the copayments. Individual plans can vary quite a bit in what they cover, things like mental health, etc. Just make sure you're comparing apples to apples, well, as closely as possible anyway.