Saving Money on Your Insurance
By JOSE MONTEMAYOR
Commissioner of Insurance - Texas
Consumers and small employers often contact the Texas Department
of Insurance to ask about health care discount programs. Their questions
indicate that some people confuse these programs – sometimes
called “referral plans” -- with true health insurance
policies, which they are not.
Typically, the attraction of a discount plan is a very low price
compared to the premium for a major medical insurance policy.
One plan’s Web site, for example, advertised a benefit card
for the entire family, including pets, for $15.95 a month and promised
savings of 10 percent to 40 percent. Another plan’s Web site
offered a range of prices and benefits, with the monthly fee topping
out at $64.95 for a deluxe plan that included discounts on hospital
bills.
Here are some things to consider before signing up for a health
care discount plan:
Remember that true discount plans are not insurance. They offer
only cards that are supposed to entitle you to discounts from participating
physicians and providers. You are responsible for most of the bill
for a medical procedure or hospitalization even if you receive the
promised discount. Getting a 20 percent discount on a $50,000 operation
still leaves you owing $40,000. Some doctors and providers might
not treat an expensive condition without payment up front or proof
of ability to pay.
Some discount card sellers are very candid about the fact that
their plans are not insurance, saying so in large letters on their
Web sites or printed materials. With some others, however, you might
need to search hard before finding such a disclaimer, if you find
one at all. Some programs appear intentionally to leave an impression
that they are offering benefits usually associated with true insurance.
"Saving Money on Your Insurance"
“Unauthorized Health Care Plans Are No Bargain”
JOSE MONTEMAYOR- Commissioner of Insurance, (27 Jan. 2007)
Texas Department of Insurance
http://www.tdi.state.tx.us
<http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/columns/documents/cc1201.doc>
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