Thanks for the response, Micro. Those are definitely things to consider.
Maybe I am worrying too much, but it isn't in my nature to buy something really vital, which has LOTS of legalese in the contract, and not worry about the specifics.
That I travel around a lot, for prolonged periods of time, just made a straight HMO dicey. But even with a PPO there is "out of network" and, it appears, REALLY out of network. So, the PPO plan I am considering to deal with being out of network, doesn't even recognize the major university related medical group in the area I am visiting. All they could say is "choose this hick regional hospital". Well, that spills over to the individual providers, as well. I'm not looking for a hospital right now, but I would like to find a trustworthy basic doctor I can develop a relationship with in case I ever have a real need.
It seems suspicious to me that the major companies I have experience with don't have an App where I can just type in a zip code, and maybe a specialty, and they will give me a list with phone number and deductible, based upon my plan. It's like they are going out of their way to remain opaque.
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