The Discount Card: It’s Better than Insurance
Call it the health care equivalent of a discount membership club. The cards….. give members discounts of 40 percent to 60 percent off routine doctors visits, lab tests, X-rays, EKGs and other treatments.
Monthly memberships range from $25.50 to $65.92, depending on the type of plan — far cheaper than many commercial insurer rates. The doctors group also offers a flat-fee menu of medical services for cash-paying patients, a program it started in March. Through the cash program; office visit charges range from $65 to $120, depending on the complexity of the case.
More evidence that when doctors compete on price, the market works.
State insurance departments have warned agents about these discount plans. The people selling them call the discounted rate a “Co-Pay” which is a lie.
A family of 4 would pay $263 a month for their so-called preventative plan. We have discussed that 30-year-old couple and 2 children can get HSA insurance for $207 a month in Michigan that has a ZERO deductible on preventative services and $8 million per person life time max. All services are also discounted until the deductible is met.
Get a discount plan and a $500,000 cancer will be discounted to $360,000. Sign here.
Discount cards are arguably better than nothing. But they appear rather pricy compared to the benefits received (e.g. $66 per month for access to negotiated rates). A recent start up, Health Care Blue Book (www.healthcarebluebook.com), provides a free, web-based consumer tool that patients can use to find the average price a mid-sized PPO might pay for a variety of services. Armed with this knowledge, most patients can shop around and secure a similar price if they offer to pay cash up front. In some markets, participating providers are displayed along side the price estimate.
In Ron’s example of a cancer diagnosis (discounted price of $360,000), I would opt to receive treatment at an Apollo Group hospital in India, where the price would likely be less than $50,000.
If you need discount insurance that has 1 million providers take a look at this its the best on the market! And no complaints on the web.
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