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.

Comments (4)

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  1. Ken says:

    More evidence that when doctors compete on price, the market works.

  2. Ron Greiner says:

    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.

  3. Devon Herrick says:

    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.

  4. Stephanie says:

    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.

    http://stephaniecampbell.xpressabo.com/go1