I see what John thinks about the discount fee plan... but am confused by his numbers.
The dentist I was going to was charging me over $140 for a visit, which included xrays and cleaning.
You say yours only charged $70. But you are savvy enough to ask upfront for a discount... do you think the average consumer knows, or wants to do that?
I imagine that fees vary anyway from dentist to dentist and from state to state... but is there somewhere a consumer could go to see what the normal and customary fees are for UNINSURED people in their area?
Because of COURSE you have to do the math on these. I had a discount plan years ago... (and now a friend is selling one)... and it saved me about $600 right away becuase I had work I needed to have done. However I dropped it later because for a single person with no ongoing issues... like for John.. the math did not add up.
But ... as I mentioned.. I have a friend selling these through one of the bigger discount plan companies. She was trying to get me on board, but for me... the math does not work.
I imagine you have to know...
Reasonable and customary fees for the UNINSURED as opposed to the insured ...in order to make a cost analysis to see if it is beneficial.
They are different are they not? I called a new dentist recently and before they booked me for an appointment they wanted to know if I was insured. I asked them why they needed to know.... did they charge me more if I was uninsured... rather than insured?
The girl hesitated, and said no... but was I insured? I said I would rather not say. I asked if they had something they could fax me with their fees on it... so I could check it out. She said they did not. She also was hesitating to give me an appointment without my answering that question... so I just hung up.
Do consumers know that many health care providers charge differently when they are not insured at all? Do all health care providers have a double standard when billing?
How many health care providers will give patients a fee schedule before they come in for a appointment?
What do people think about discount fee for service plans? Are they something that some agents carry ...along with regular insurance plans?
My friend is selling this one (
http://www.dentalandmedicalbenefits4all.com ) which costs about $12 a month and you go to a dentist in the network who simply guarantees a discounted fee for your work... you know the exact amount before you go though... so you are not surprised when you go to pay.
This company also has discount-fee-for-service MEDICAL which is higher (about $50 a month or so).
I would think that real insurance is always better, right?
But do you run into clients that can not qualify for regular insurance, can not afford it, ... or have to have work done faster, that this would be appropriate for?
The differences this seems to have (at least in my eyes) is that it...
Has no waiting period
Everyone qualifies
Lower cost than insurance plans
Covers entire household - regardless of number in it
No exclusions for pre-existing conditions
(my nephew has diabetes and can not find any reasonable coverage so is on medicaid)
It DOES only get the patient discounts on services... but they range from 20-80% discounts depending on the service... and you know upfront what the fee is.
One thing that I THINK is a value... is that it locks in rates for the uninsured. There was a big article in the paper recently about a man that had to have a heart operation here in Orlando. If he had been insured... the hospital would only have charged $60,000 or so for the procedure. But because he was not insured... the hospital billed him over $130,000. for the exact same procedure.
Is this as common as the article I read seemed to imply?
Is it because the insurance companies sort of force the hospitals to keep their billing to an amount the company is willing to pay?
I was pretty shocked by that article... but I figure that a discount plan would solve that issue (in most/some cases) for folks that cannot qualify (maybe due to a pre-existing condition) for traditional health or dental insurance.
Anyway... my friend has just started with this product... and I wonder if it would be worth her time to contact independent insurance agents to carry this product (monthly carry cost is about $50 a month to represent product... but it pays on a residual basis).
Please let me know what you think.
MM