Groupon Instead of Health Insurance?
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Groupon CEO Andrew Mason was interviewed on 60 Minutes this past Sunday night. He discussed more about how the daily deal website has exploded over the past few years, resulting in their IPO at the end of last year. There was even an example of how doctors are using Groupon to reach more patients. One thing the segment didn’t touch on was how patients are using Groupon when it comes to healthcare.
Regardless of whether you’re in a red state or a blue state, most doctors would agree that health insurance could work better. Whether it’s the hoops you have to jump through with CPT codes to get paid as a provider, or increased costs and coverage issues for the patients themselves, there are certainly problems. And, a recent trend among patients to solve this issues is raising eyebrows – Groupon taking the place of health insurance.
As insurance companies continue to increase premiums and the number of procedures they deem as “elective,” patients are electing to bypass their insurance providers and simply use Groupons instead. For example, a LASIK surgeon may charge $5,000 to perform the procedure on 2 eyes. A patient with an insurance plan that deems this an elective procedure and only covers 20%, along with an high annual deductible of $4,000, will end up paying $4,000 for the procedure. With a Groupon (which average around a 50% discount), a patient can have the procedure done for $2,500 – a $1,500 savings.
As we’ve mentioned before, there are still a number of issues that are still being sorted out with regard to the legal ramifications of offering these deals. And, I think it’s safe to say that most of us hope a true solution to our current state of affairs involves a bit more than just Internet coupons. But, when practices are bringing in new patients and patients are saving money, it’s at least a start.
Thinking about trying a Groupon for your practice? Claim your free DoctorBase profile to have the Panda give you the online reviews necessary to qualify your practice for a daily deal at:
http://doctor.DoctorBase.com/claim
