Sidecar HealthReviews of sidecarhealth.com

Sidecar refused to give me a quote because "it would end up being more expensive than other insurances and not worth it for you" even though I told them that wouldn't be the case in my situation. They even said my premiums would be in the thousands, which I STILL pay more than that per month with my current insurance and would pay with any other insurance in the market. They said there's no way to bypass the system because Sidecar believes they're not a good fit for me. Why am I not a good fit? Because I'm willing to pay thousands of dollars to Sidecar each month? It made no sense that this system was built with absolutely no way to create a custom quote. I spoke with a supervisor (Amanda) on the phone and she was very kind about it, but it's still frustrating that there's no option of using Sidecar without removing the medication that I need covered. EDIT: In response to the reply on my review... I don't want a "better" rate in the future, whatever that means to Sidecar. I want a rate right now, period. Because literally a $2,000/mo premium would still be less than what I'm paying right now. It seems like my review wasn't read or understood, but at this point it doesn't matter. Sidecar still refuses to help, and calling by phone doesn't change that.

I paid this “health plan” for 6 months, on my first doctor visit the bill was $413 from which they cover absolutely nothing. 18 months later from that visit just got a bill for a balance that they supposed to cover. This is a waste of money.

Not worth the hassle. I was looking for interim coverage, and read amazing things about Sidecar. I was super excited when I signed up. Absolutely horrible customer service. I cancelled my plan, was still charged. Was told “it’s too late to reverse the charges”. Disputed the charge with my bank, three months later, found out Sidecar changed the date of my cancellation to the bank to reflect in their favor according to the letter I received from the bank. In the attachments, multiple lines are blacked out and not able to be seen. It clearly and effectively shows I cancelled the policy 30 days prior to the new charges. Absolutely shady and ridiculous. Please stay away. Pay for medical procedures yourself and do not get involved with this company. *** I am currently appealing the banks decision based on the attachments provided from Sidecar and will be looking for a refund very soon.

I really wanted to like Sidecar and thought fixed indemnity sounded like a great alternative to the awful silver and bronze insurance plans I'd had in the past. How quickly were my rose-colored glasses removed. First off, good luck finding providers who charge anywhere close to the rates Sidecar reimburses. Real examples of my expenses: My bill - $364. Sidecar reimbursement - $73. My bill - $200. Sidecar reimbursement- $97. Of course they always show that you'll be reimbursed at a higher level and then find some reason (hidden in the medical codes on their backend, of course) to reimburse you at a lower rate. Ex. Their Estimate Benefit tool showed that I could expect a reimbursement of $292 for that visit that I was only reimbused $73 for. And my expected out-of-pocket for regular visits to one doctor was $40 instead of $103. To make matters worse, they take a while to run those mysterious codes that tell them how little they can get away reimbursing you, so I had a few of those $200 visits before I got the "whoopsies, we actually need you to pay a lot more than we told you you did" final expense messages. Also, I hope you are looking for a second job as a medical billing specialist if you go with Sidecar, because you will spend a ton of time on the phone with providers asking for special itemized bills that include the CPT codes and explaining "yes, I was self pay, BUT I have this weird quasi-insurance company that needs it and NO you can't bill them directly and it's totally not a scam even though it sounds like one." In summary, Sidecar works best if you think of it as an expensive discount card. You'll pay roughly half your expenses out of pocket, kinda like you would if you had, oh IDK, a high deductible traditional health insurance plan....but the latter would probably save you more if you got hit by a bus.

The amount of time that I have had to spend resolving issues because my medical provider bill did not contain the diagnosis codes (although it contained the procedure code) is a waste of my time. I chose this plan because it's suppose to be easy, but it's NOT. They always want more information than what is on a standard bill.

Bad experience + Unreasonable Billing Practices Awful experience. Platform never works for uploading receipts (have to email customer service every time). Expense calculations are unclear and often get stuck in limbo for weeks on end while they determine what you will need to pay. I chose this insurance after being laid off and deciding to make a career change. I notified them in advance of coverage to be provided through my new employer, but they refuse to prorate/refund the two weeks worth of coverage that will overlap for the month paid in advance. The only reasoning is just that they "can't." I'm still waiting for one of the expense adjustments to post, but apparently they "can't" even credit the unused coverage premium towards that cost. Ridiculous. If you're looking for any sort of reliable, consistent coverage do not use this company. Additional update: customer service reaches out to resolve this concern...and now 5 mins later my outstanding bill is rejected and I owe $500? Are you kidding me?

Sidecar Health is a scam. They stopped offering me service after I wanted to do a preventative procedure recommended by my doctor. I've been using traditional insurance companies for 30+ years and I've never been treated like this. Most of their "should cost" prices are inaccurate (even the cheapest providers charge 2x the price). And they change their "benefit amount" right after you file your claim. I had a screenshot before they updated the pricing. The reason they give you: We are a startup company. Deceptive and false advertising is against the law. Don't fall for their "no deductible" plan and scam tactics. Choose any insurance company but this scam company!

I'm updating & softening my previous review that called Sidecar Health a scam (though I am not 100% convinced that it isn't...). After receiving a follow up call from the company, I'm willing to entertain that it isn't an intentional scam and just a new business model that doesn't live up to its claims. Sidecar makes a bold promise right at the top of their home page: "Health insurance the way it should be." Not in my experience. So far, I've paid my premium for 5 months and I have had one routine annual exam. For that visit, I paid nearly as much as I would have had I had no coverage at all - around $700. Why has this happened? The first issue is that I was "overcharged" (according to Sidecar) for the lab fees. Perhaps this is true. Apparently I should have not used the lab in the doctors office and shopped around instead, and asked more questions about lab fees upfront when I made my appt. Ok. I guess that is the trade-off of their model. The other problem is apparently the doctors office billed for the visit under the wrong billing code. Since I am not an expert on medical billing codes, that cost me $90. On top of the money, for this one visit I've had 4 phone calls with Sidecar and several with the doctor's office trying to get it sorted out. This isn't how *anything* should be imo! Bottom line is - this IS NOT an easy to use service. It is time consuming, frustrating and there is a learning curve while you learn the arcane processes of medical administration. Small missteps will cost you big $$. On their website, they present their service is easy and transparent, but I haven't found that to be true. For instance, in the How it Works section, the second point states "Compare prices between doctors to find the best rate" with a corresponding picture that indicates you can do this in their app. But, in practice, the app lists the doctors in my area but has absolutely no price information for any of them. Later on the page there is another image, supposedly a screenshot of their app, where it shows a doctor profile with reviews and prices. Again, neither prices nor reviews are available in the doctor-finder part of the app (in my area). Another way they give the impression of being easy is that supposedly you simply pay for services with your Sidecar Visa, then upload your bills and get reimbursed. It's true that you can do this, but this is the easiest way to end up stuck with unexpected medical bills. Through my conversations with the company, the safest process is a bit more complicated. What they recommended to me on the phone is to *not* pay the doctor upfront - first upload the bill to the Sidecar app, wait and see what Sidecar will pay you, then if you end up out of pocket, try and bargain your medical bills down. Of course, they don't put this in their marketing since that would be a hard sell and really isn't consistent with their "easy and transparent" image. All this said, there are very few alternatives for those of us who don't have health coverage through their employers. In this scenario it's a matter of picking your poison. I'm sticking with them (for now) in the hopes of re-couping my losses with better planning and more info on how to use the system in the future. I will update this review if this ever ends up working out for me before I get a better job or move to a civilized country.