|
|
 |
 |
Jordan Goodman is the author of Everyone's Money Book, available at 888-201-6300. This is the third edition of the book. You can also visit his Web site at www.moneyanswers.com. He talks with us on Thursday mornings.
|
|
December 26, 2002
"Health Insurance Alternatives"
The health insurance industry is covering fewer and fewer Americans at
higher and higher cost, and in many cases, driving people to go without health
insurance. There are currently over 42 million Americans with no insurance,
and that number is expected to rise dramatically -- perhaps to 50 million -- in
the next year or so. And, more and more small businesses will drop their plans
because they can’t afford soaring health insurance premiums.
This crisis has spawned two alternatives for people without insurance: one
bogus and one legitimate.
The bogus one is that companies have been springing up around the country
offering health insurance plans to people who otherwise couldn’t get or
afford it, and then running off with the money and leaving people with
thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills. This ruins these people’s
credit ratings and they are hounded by collection agencies for hospitals,
doctors and labs. The government estimates that over $6 million in premiums
has been stolen this year by these bogus health insurance companies.
Two examples:
- In Arkansas, three companies -- American Benefit Plans, AMS Staff Leasing and
TRG -- set up what they called "Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements"
that they say are exempt from state insurance regulations. The Arkansas
Insurance Department has just put out a warning to consumers and small
businesses to avoid getting taken in by this pitch.
- In Nevada, Employers Mutual collected more than $14 million in healthcare
premiums from 22,000 customers in 37 states, but paid only $3 million in
claims. The company was finally shut down after it was found that the owners
pocketed over $6 million in premiums for personal lavish spending.
Unfortunately, if you are ripped off by one of these firms, you are still
liable for the medical bills.
The legitimate alternative for people who either can’t afford or qualify
for health insurance is called medical "re-pricing." Instead of providing
insurance to reimburse people for medical expenses, re-pricing gives anyone
who joins access to the best network of doctors, hospitals, dentists, vision
and hearing specialists, veterinarians, drugs, etc.; no pre-existing
conditions of any kind exclude you from signing up. You go to the doctor,
have the procedure done, and the bill is re-priced on the spot depending on
the codes of the procedure -- then, you pay the bill. There are no deductibles,
co-payments or premiums involved. At most, the membership in the re-pricing
plan costs $70 a month, although there are plans for less that cover fewer
procedures.
If people want to find out more about this they can go to
http://www.medicalrepricing.com, or call 800-915-5677.
By the way, I do this for my
family and it has saved me a lot of money. I looked into health insurance
premiums and it would have been about $1,100 a month, so instead, I now pay
$70 a month and pay the re-priced bills whenever we see the doctor.
It is important to have some kind of coverage for health expenses, but you
have to make sure it is legitimate -- or you will end up owing huge sums and
have collection agencies chasing you.
For More Financial Tips From Jordan Goodman
|
|
