Something that is all over the airwaves now, and is front and center in MY life, is the cost of healthcare, and the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack has kind of made me consider it closely.
The surviving generation of the war itself (the Greatest Generation) are now well into their 90's, and their children are well into their 60's, and constitute nearly 12% of our total population. The increased need of medical care for these people and the shrinking means of paying for it privately are driving the costs for the entire society through the roof.
Obviously, I know no one here needs this explanation... I'm doing it rhetorically. Stick with me.
I, as the provider for a family of five, now pay $165 per week (yes, per week!) for my healthcare insurance. That's just under $8,600 per year in expenses that I might or might not incur in healthcare or major medical costs... and there is (obviously) no refund on what I don't use or spend.
There was a time in this country when "insurance" covered only what you couldn't pay out-of-pocket. That would have been a major health issue... a trip to the emergency room, or extended hospitalization, major surgery, etc. ... that I didn't have the means to pay for myself. Now, even simply trips to the eye doctor cost a staggering $900 per child (and they are required for all kids attending school in my district), and our insurance only covers 90% of that bill.
Lately I have been looking at my pay stub and considering the amount of money I am throwing into healthcare right now. What could be done differently?
What if I only paid for a policy that covered medical bills in excess of $5k? All bills less than $5,000, I arrange to pay myself, either through a payment plan (i.e. credit) or through personal savings (i.e. cash). What if the policy I paid for only cost me a fraction of what I am paying now? Knowing that medical bills can reach staggering proportions very, very quickly... if it was structured like a term life policy around a contribution pool of say 100,000 people (the average amount of members in PPO-structured plans today in PA), then I could have $300,000 of major medical coverage for as little as $75 per month. That is damn near a 90% savings from what I am paying right now... which means I take home $600 MORE per month, knowing I might have to pay up to $5,000 more a year in major medical costs. Unless my math is WAY off, that means that in less than 10 months of savings, I can have an account in my own bank of my own money ready to lay out the $5k I'm obligated to cover myself, and for the rest of the time I don't have a major medical expense, I'm $600 better off every month than I was previously.
But what about the $900 vision tests I was just talking about?
It is my understanding and experience that arrangements can often be made with doctor's offices, wherein a cash payment earns you a MAJOR discount in cost of service. When I was unemployed and uninsured two years ago, I needed some dental work done. I talked to the dentist and he agreed to fix the tooth (cracked and abscessed) for a grand total of $243 over two visits. When I asked him what it would cost should he bill insurance, he told me it was a $1,000 procedure, and that the difference was in factoring in the cost of delayed payment and hours and hours of additional administrative work by his office employees.
I have since used this means of savings whenever we have hit the roadblock of a doctor or service NOT being covered by our insurance, and it has worked every time. One of the kids needs to see a specialist about a nasal condition (something that has happened twice) and that specialist isn't on our plan... make the cash arrangements and watch the job get done for about 20% of the insurance bill's cost.
Let's face it... running a dentist office or a general practice MD office is still just running a business: it isn't going to work if you can't make a profit. If the cost of making that profit via insurance companies drives prices higher, then smart doctors (no matter what their specialty is) will offer a "cash discount price" that is affordable to most clientele and they will avoid the hassle and delay associated with big insurance. More business, bills paid quicker, profit margins more accessible and costs reduced across the board.
How do I know this will work? Because it already exists and constitutes a $300 billion dollar per year industry in this country alone: veterinary medicine practice.
More than 50% of America has pets, and pets will always, at some point, need to see a vet. Less than 1% of America has any kind of insurance to cover that cost... so if that is true, and pet care gets expensive, who pays for the services? Pet owners do, and they do it in cash. I myself have run into some daunting vet bills over the years, and if I think one vet is charging too much, I take my business to someone else that offers the same or better services for a better price... like any smart shopper would. Our dog, Mick, needed a bad tooth extracted to fix a HUGE abscess on his face, and the local vet wanted $750 to do the job. I called another vet, only 6 miles further away, that would do the same job for less than $400 and Mick is happy and healthy with one less tooth in his head, while I am $350 better off for the ordeal.
If I have to continue to see 16.5% of every check I earn go towards insurance that still requires me to pay out-of-pocket and drives those out-of-pocket expenses higher and higher... where do I benefit? I'd rather see the 15% RAISE that such a reduction in cost as I am describing would constitute and pay for as much as I could myself... knowing that everyone else that does it that way would also benefit in the long run.
Why isn't THIS an option for me as a citizen of these United States? Who's advocating this plan?
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