Price Transparency: An Important Reason Healthshare Memberships Cost Less Than Health Insurance

No matter how much money you’re saving with your healthshare membership, there’s always someone who is trying to spoil the party. If you’ve been paying attention to the media these days, there’s a good chance you’ve heard one personality or another talk about how healthshare plans are “too good to be true”, or even outright scams.

But there’s no secret why healthshare memberships are so much more affordable than conventional insurance. Simply put, Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSMs) are better at negotiating.  

The people behind HCSMs know how hospital pricing works. That means they also know to get around it, and to find the best prices for their members. This is why health sharing programs are so successful, and also why the powers that be are so intent on bringing them down.

Why Hospitals Insist on Keeping Their Prices a Secret

In the hospital industry, the medical codes that determine how much a procedure costs are considered an actual trade secret. For decades, this has made it impossible to find out how much a medical service will cost, until you’re actually holding the bill in your hands.

While there has been some progress in recent years towards forcing hospitals to be upfront with their prices, things aren’t likely to change anytime soon. Medical providers will continue to inflate their prices at every chance they get. In fact, experts have determined that many hospitals will inflate their prices by 300% or 400% before charging the insurance companies.

Healthshare organizations are not so gullible. They know that providers will charge as much as they can, especially when the federal government is footing the bill.

The result is that healthcare gets more expensive for everybody. In other words, the American health insurance train has gone off the rails. Frankly, it’s no surprise that healthshare programs have become as popular as they are.

Your Health Sharing Organization Knows How to Negotiate

If you’re already enrolled in a healthshare program, then you’ve got a team of professional negotiators in your corner, working to get the best costs on medical procedures. They know how to compare hospitals and providers, honing in on the “real” prices, and then pass on those savings to their members.

When you incur a health expense, your HCSM goes to work on your behalf, securing you better rates than you’d ever get with unsubsidized insurance. This is one of the reasons why some healthshare plans require pre-approval; It allows them to seek the best rates beforehand, giving them maximum leverage.

Consider this: In 2016, Clearhealthcosts.com found that the cost of a lower-back MRI was $475 at one hospital, and a massive $6221 at another in the same area. That’s a difference of over $5 thousand bucks. Now, think of the last insurance company you had. Do you really think that they would have gone to bat for you?

The Fight for Price Transparency Continues On  

The more the federal government meddles with our healthcare, the more that private companies will try to take advantage. In the ongoing fight for price transparency, we need to use every tool at our disposal to win.

Health Care Cost Sharing is one such tool. By choosing a healthshare program over traditional insurance, you’re helping to de-incentivize the predatory relationship that exists between hospitals and insurance companies. With any luck, we can bring the cost of healthcare down for everybody.

Let Us Know About Your Healthshare Experience

As long as you’re enrolled with a healthshare plan through HSA for America, we’ll make sure that you’re getting the best protection at the best rates. But if you have thoughts about your healthshare experience, I’d love to hear them.

You can drop me a line at [email protected], or reach out to your Personal Benefits Manager if you have questions.

Click here to schedule an appointment, or call 800-913-0172 to get started.    

To your health and wealth,

Wiley P. Long, III
President - HSA for America

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