by liaoyu03 » Sun Sep 09, 2007 03:29 am
I am just wondering if the Private Insurance companies are any better than the National Health Insurance. I would really like to join one, but I don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire (so to speak).
If anyone out there who holds one of these policies can give me any good or bad info on these companies, then can you let me know?
If anyone out there who holds one of these policies can give me any good or bad info on these companies, then can you let me know?
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 09:40 am Post Subject: re: Alternative Health Insurance
Ameriplan would be what you would consider an alternative to health insurance. Yes, I among almost 2 million people carry this type of plan. The benefits are worth looking into. Regular insurance can be expensive especially if you don't use it that often. Ameriplan is very afforadable and worth the discount on medical even if you go to the doctor 1 or twice a year.
Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 08:18 am Post Subject:
I agree with JK.
I offer AmeriPlan services/plans as well as use them myself. I love what I do and I support others who add AmeriPlan to their portfolios to help those who can't qualify or afford insurance. I have a lot of insurance agents on my team and it's great to know that they can still help their clients if they get turned down.
I wish I would have known about AmeriPlan a couple years back when my cousin had a really bad tooth infection. His right side of his face was bulging (swollen). I took him to an emergency dental clinic that took out his tooth but since he didn't have dental insurance or any insurance for that matter, he had to pay around $600.
Flash forward today, when I joined AmeriPlan to help others save money on their care (as an alternative and not insurance), I thought about the clinic we went to back in the day.
I looked up the clinic and sure enough they accepted AmeriPlan and if we were members (even just for that time) we would have saved $200. I even tried calling the clinic to tell them now I have the membership and if I can get discounted from two years back. Of course, I was looked at like I was crazy but hey, I tried.
But I do love helping people save money and listening to their stories. I guess you can say I overly care about my members and my business :)
~TaVona
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 01:34 pm Post Subject:
Well going for federal insurance plans is certainly good for low income groups but getting eligible itself is quite a task. so if you are financially strong enough then its better to go for the private insurance companies.
But make sure that you tread cautiously and not hurry.
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 04:43 pm Post Subject:
I am just wondering if the Private Insurance companies are any better than the National Health Insurance.
This is a very old post, and at the time THERE WAS NO NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.
Times have changed, and today . . . THERE IS NO NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE. Obamacare is coming, but it is not national health insurance -- at least not until the last commercial insurer, HMO, or PPO exits the marketplace.
For the medically indigent, there is Medicaid. For persons over 65 (and a few others under age 65), there is Medicare. But both of these plans fall far short of what most people would think of when it comes to a plan of healthcare.
As for Ameriplan USA, I have no direct experience with them, so I'm not going to comment about them, positively or negatively, specifically. But I can say this: Ameriplan USA does not offer any health insurance plans . . . you know, the kind of thing that actually pays the bills.
Ameriplan offers people a way to pay their hard-earned money to receive a card that obtains a billing discount from hospitals, doctors, and other providers . . . the same discount a person could obtain on their own from the exact same providers simply by ASKING FOR IT WHEN PAYING CASH FOR SERVICES.
Personally, I believe they are being deceptive when they call one of their offerings the "Consumer Driven Health Care Program". It does nothing other than give a person a list of providers who have agreed to offer a discount. I can all but guarantee that ANY doctor, dentist, hospital, osteopath, chiropractor, nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, urgent care center, and even some pharmacies, will give a CASH CUSTOMER a discount, especially when they agree to pay in full at the time.
When the phrase "Consumer Driven Health Care" was used in the runup to the vote on Obamacare, it meant giving patients more control over how their health care dollars are being spent. That's always been a possibility -- it's nothing new. And it falls under the banner of something called "personal responsibility."
The fact is, you can get the same kind of discount when you pay cash at the local furniture store or auto dealer. You just have to ask for it. My wife is an emergency room nurse, and her hospital automatically deducts a minimum of 30% when a person pays cash, more if they can pay the entire bill in full instead of entering into a periodic payment plan. Same goes for the ER physicians' group.
So why pay $20 per month or more for something you can do on your own, but may be afraid to do? Doctors used to accept chickens and eggs 150 years ago when a patient had no money. Nobody bought a discount card for that. They just asked.
And I can tell you this, also. More and more of these so-called Healthcare Discount Plans are being prohibited from doing business in certain states because people misunderstand from the marketing hype what it is they are getting. These "plans" are NEVER sold or marketed by insurance agents. At least not by any I know personally.
If this is something you want, I won't prevent you from getting it. But it may not provide any true benefit to you at all. Make sure you FULLY understand what it does, how it works, and what it won't do for you.
Ask an insurance agent to explain it to you and to explain how medical and dental insurance really works and what it really costs. You might just discover that you can afford and qualify for honest-to-goodness INSURANCE.
Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 02:18 am Post Subject:
These discount plans are like getting a car insurance policy that pays for oil changes, but won't pay if you have an accident.
I'm sure that most of us change or oil more than we have accidents, but I'd rather pay out of pocket for my oil change and know that I get to keep my house if I'm at fault for an accident.
HSA compatible HDHP policies are usually the way to go. They cover you for catastrophic events, but are cheap because you take care of the little stuff yourself.
I'd much rather have a client who is mad at me because she had to pay for an x-ray than one who lost her house because she bought one of these non-insurance policies.
Regarding the discount policies: Don't buy. Don't sell.
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 01:26 pm Post Subject:
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 02:46 pm Post Subject:
HSA compatible HDHP policies are usually the way to go. They cover you for catastrophic events, but are cheap because you take care of the little stuff yourself.
For younger insureds, yes. But once past 40 the cost rises quickly. Not much savings between an HMO and an HSA/HDHP after 50 at all.
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