It is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the future of cash-based healthcare services is brighter than many people might think.
I know a man, a very successful entrepreneur, who got fed up with his $900+ monthly premium on his $10,000 deductible health plan for himself and his wife. So he said, "I'm out."
He dropped his health plan and joined a Christian healthcare cooperative instead. Because he lives a life free of substance abuse and unsafe lifestyles, he pays $300 a month as a donation to the co-op. His donations pay for the healthcare expenses incurred by other co-op members. It is not insurance (but the Accountable Care Act provides an exclusion for membership in such co-ops).
It sounded flakey to me until he told me what happened when he needed cervical spine surgery.
The projected cost of the surgery was $45,000. He negotiated with his preferred surgeon, the hospital and the anesthesiologist and got a total cash price of $14,000. He had the surgery, submitted the bill to the co-op and they paid it. And all he paid was his monthly $300 co-op donation - - no deductibe, no copay.
Now stop and think: everyone was happy with this arrangement! The hospital and the physicians voluntarily accepted this deal - - which can only mean it was a better deal than they would have gotten from Aetna. And with no delay in payment, no denials, no EOBs, no collections efforts. Just cash.
So, as the classic question goes, "What's wrong with this picture?" The answer is, "Nothing!"
This insight was affirmed in a must-read Op-Ed article in today's Wall Street Journal entitled, "Jeffrey Singer: The Man Who Was Treated for $17,000 Less." If health plan premiums rise as precipitously as some are projecting under ObamaCare, a lot of people will be dumping their insurance like this!
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