While the Democrats and Republicans continue their debate about how to create affordable healthcare reform, insurance and pharmaceutical companies are raising their prices on consumers. Considering that reform is based on the lack of accessible, affordable healthcare products and services this is an extremely cynical move.  Once again the consumer gets stuck with a higher bill for healthcare, and no say in what prices should be.

Yesterday I was meeting with a woman who had been an executive for one of the large  insurance companies.  She reminded me that insurance is a business built on managing risk.  What this means is that consumers pay monthly fees to hedge catastrophic expenses.  We do this for automobiles, houses, life, disability, and for other types of coverage.  She brought up the point that health insurance was never meant to cover preventive care or usual and customary medical expenses.  The point being that insurance has gone beyond its main calling.  So in essence, we’re using insurance for the wrong things.

If we only used insurance for catastrophic care, how would each of us manage the rising prices for services, products and supplies?  Well, we would start by looking harder at HSA plans or consumer-directed health plans.  They don’t take away all of the risk of usual and customary expenses, but they serve as a way to budget and save for them when we need an annual exam, prescription or diagnostic test

In addition, companies like our MyHealthandMoney.com are being built to help consumers save on out-of-pocket healthcare expenses so that your $5,000 deductible turns into $7,500 in actual goods and services.

The bottom line is that we need to get into the mix on the debate, put pressure on companies about their prices, and more than anything get educated about our buying power and what things cost.

Let’s give it a try.  Send an email to: marketing at myhealthandmoney dot com and suggest a product that you would like to form a buying group around.  If we get 100 people asking for a lower price for a specific drug, medical supply or healthcare equipment, we’ll go negotiate the price for you.  What do you have to lose?

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