• Blue Advantage offers in-patient and preventive health services.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Blue Advantage is a health insurance option offered by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, one of the United State's largest health insurance providers. BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina actually offers four Blue Advantage plans, each with its own characteristics. Blue Advantage offers numerous benefits, such as coinsurance for home health care, skilled nursing and in-patient hospital care. Certain customers may not like other aspects of the health plan, however.
  
  

The PPO Network

• All four Blue Advantage plans are PPO (preferred provider organization) policies. Blue Advantage customers don't have to get their health-care services from providers in the network, but their costs are much higher if they don't. If your primary care physician is part of the network, that's not a problem, but if he's not, you must leave your doctor and choose another that's in the network --- or else pay higher medical bills. Certain services, such as routine physicals, gynecological exams and immunizations, aren't offered outside the network at all, which may lead customers to feel that they're paying the higher premiums of a PPO while still being hindered by the rules of an HMO.
  
  

Limits to Mental Health Benefits

• Unlike many health insurance policies, Blue Advantage does offer mental health benefits. However, these are limited to just $2,000 per calendar year. A single person can only receive $10,000 maximum in benefits during her entire lifetime for in-patient facility or in-patient professional mental health treatment. Outpatient professional treatment is only covered at 50 percent, and only after the calendar-year deductible has been met
  
  

Confusing Differences in Plans

• There are four Blue Advantage plans, referred to as A, B and C; Plan A comes in two varieties, one with 100 percent coverage of certain benefits and the other with 80 percent coverage. Plan B has 70 percent coverage, and Plan C has 50 percent. This allows customers to choose a plan with higher premiums but more comprehensive coverage --- Plan A --- or one with less coverage but lower premiums --- Plan C. The 80 percent Plan A is a compromise between the two and is the most popular, but the differences between the four can be confusing, especially considering several services are still the same for A, B and C. Non-network office visits are covered at only 70 percent by all four plans. but the copay for in-network doctor's visits ranges from $15 to $30, depending on your policy, as of November 2010. Deductibles also vary greatly, from a maximum of $5,000 for Plan C to a maximum of $1,000 for the 100 percent Plan A. Coinsurance for home health, in-patient hospital and skilled nursing care also varies, from 100 percent for Plan A to a mere 50 percent for Plan C. These variations make if difficult to decide which plans best meet your needs. A person wanting the lowest monthly premiums of Plan C may not realize how much money this may cost them in the future, while someone who doesn't need all the services of Plan A may end up spending money for no reason.