Alternatives to Traditional Health Care Insurance
For over a decade now, there have been alternatives that were for the most part not widely promoted. These alternatives can assist those who are under insured in many ways. Even though most alternatives are not insurance, they are great ways to drastically reduce the cost of going to the doctor, and in some cases are even better than the insurance coverage you might currently have.
One alternative that you will want to look into is a Discount Health benefits program. Basically this is exactly what is says, a discount program. These sorts of programs operate just like insurance. You have to go see a participating provider and show the card when you have the procedure performed, just like you do with traditional insurance companies. With Discount Health benefits there are no co-pays, no waiting periods, and no exclusions with most companies. You pay for the procedure when it is performed or make payment options with the doctor at the office. When you show these types of cards however the doctor accepting it agrees to lower the cost of the procedure a set amount as a perk for you as a member of that plan.
While there are many companies out there offering this sort of program, the company that started it all, and the one that most other companies are judged on is called AmeriplanUSA. Ameriplan memberships are very inexpensive on a monthly basis and can get you discounts on dental, vision, prescription, and chiropractic services all over the country. While researching this article I looked into Ameriplan and found over 50 dentists in my area that accepts the plan, and the savings are as high as 80% on some procedures. Recently they also added a program allowing you to get discounts at doctor’s offices, ancillary care facilities, and access to a Hospital Advocacy program in addition to the other discounts.
Now Ameriplan is not the only company out there that offers this type of program, however my research has found that they are the innovators of this industry and they offer the largest discounts and the lowest costs. One website you can use to check out this program for yourself is http://www.smilecheap.com this is a very informative website complete with videos and literature that will answer just about any question you have.
In addition to the great benefits you get from being a member of one of these discount programs, anyone can get the plan. There are no medical exams, and no one is turned down for these types of programs as they can be with traditional insurance plans. Also with discount health benefit plans, you can start them, and stop them at any time. Traditional insurance plans typically like you to begin them at special times of the year and some require you to keep the coverage for a whole year.
Another difference between HDB plans and insurances is that with discount plans many times you can have anyone in your house covered just by adding their name. Related or not, with most discount health benefit plans, anyone living at your address can be covered. Even if you have state funded health care, a discount program can be beneficial to you. Especially when it comes to optical services where you may not like the options you have to pick from with a regular insurance plan.
How do you decide if a discount health benefits plan is right for you? Just think about these things.
When is a discount health benefits plan better than insurance?
? When you can’t get insurance
? When insurance is too expensive
? When you need treatment for something that has already happened and you don’t have coverage
? When you are still in a waiting period
? When your premium for the year far exceeds what you will need in treatments
? When your deductible is too high to cover the regular checkups
? When you have an annual limit on how much you can benefit, and you will need a lot more visits
? When you WANT something done, but don’t NEED it to be done
? Most vision insurance plans are garbage (choose from a selection of frames, receive only as much benefits as you put in with your premiums)
? Most dental insurance plans are garbage (out of pocket expenses after a certain limit has been reached; no coverage for adult cosmetic treatments, etc.)
? When you live with someone you are not related to or married to, and they have no insurance
When is a discount health benefits plan not better than insurance?
? When your employer pays for it, or most of it
? When your premiums are dwarfed by how much you will use the coverage
? When there are no AmeriPlan providers nearby
? When you have to go the emergency room and the bill will be under $2500.
Discount health benefits programs are worth taking a look at, and can quite possibly save you and your family some money on your health care. With this new wave in health care benefits, the doctors and patients are finally in control when it comes to what treatments they want. Thus making for a better America.
