John’s Story

John is thirty, lives in Oakland, California, and trained as an engineer

This is a section where we give a voice to patients, providers, advocates and healthcare experts. This is John’s story.

John worked at Facebook and now consults for a range of startups. He has always been lucky to be covered by good healthcare plans but, like many people, John didn’t understand the details of how health insurance operates.

“I never thought about it. If the doctor’s assistant said pay $35 instead of $150 for my check up, that was great. That’s what my insurance was doing for me, right. I never considered filing for out-of-network bills, like therapy even though I knew up to 50% may be covered, because I thought of it like car insurance. The more I used it, the more expensive it would get.”

But that isn’t the case. Health insurance companies may not raise rates on patients who make claims.

John’s attitude to out-of-network payments was to assume the money he paid was gone forever

“Once a week I’d go to acupuncture (~$95) and every two weeks a therapy session (~$150) and I never even considered the possibility of being reimbursed.”

He also paid for prescriptions.

“I would just fill prescriptions at the easiest place. If I showed the pharmacist my card and I was covered, that was great. But most of the time I’d be in some random pharmacy that didn’t take my insurance so I’d say “fine”, and pay the fifty bucks or whatever.”

And like many patients, John never tried to get money back. He knew how time-consuming it could be.

“I hate fax machines. And the phone calls.

Every time I called my health insurance they kept me on hold so long I had the music memorized. This terrible elevator music... you’re sitting there on hold, and you feel yourself wasting your life.

The less I interacted with my health insurance the better.”

Better radically changed the way John handles bills

John uses Better on a monthly basis, sends in all his therapist, acupuncture and prescription bills, and waits to get paid back.

“For instance, my acupuncturist emails me my monthly Superbill (around $400) and I forward them straight to Better.”

This is how Better can be used to best effect. It becomes a part of a consumer’s routine: a few minutes of time to send in your bills gets you the peace-of-mind to seek the care you need.

John likes Better because it’s simple

“I love that Better is so low friction. All I have to do is snap a pic of my bills. One minute and it’s done.

If I had to keep calling the insurance company, reading letters that come back denying claims, and arguing with them on appeal– that adds up to a lot of overhead.

It’s in my best interest to submit my claims but the less I have to think about it, the more I’m able to do it.”