subject: Health Insurance Versus Discount Cards [print this page] In recent years, it seems that advertisers can get away with just about anything. This includes companies making claims that they are offering health insurance when in actuality they are not.
There are at least a few companies that advertise on television and the radio as offering real health insurance policies. These advertisements may seem legit, but they also may seem too good to be true. Since consumers really can't base their judgment of a company, product, or service by their advertisements, they need to dig deeper to make sure they obtain the health insurance or discount card that they are looking for.
Simply calling the toll free number from one of these advertisements often will leave consumers surprised within seconds. Even companies that state in their ad that they are actually offering real health insurance often say the opposite in an automated statement when calling the toll free number. Though this is evidently blatant false advertising, for some reason it is apparently not illegal since it continues on a daily basis across the nation.
Anyone who cannot afford health insurance or finds themselves struggling to become eligible for it might benefit from a medical discount card. These cards generally purport to offer discounts at a number of medical providers, but beware in trusting their list of covered providers and hospitals. All too often a provider will be listed on their website, but in presenting it to the receptionist or secretary, a patient often is surprised that there is in reality no discount.
Despite this drawback, pharmacies do indeed honor almost all of these discount cards. Since we all know how expensive medication is these days, it may very well be worth it to purchase one of these discount cards. First, calculate the amount you spend each month on each prescription, and add it all up. Then identify the prices for each medication per month with the discount card. (There is usually a website available to look up the discounted price of medications. If not, simply call customer service and they should provide you with this information.) Add up and compare the totals.
Once you have the totals for your medication costs with and without the discount card, add the monthly discount card fee to the total monthly cost of prescriptions with the card. If this total is less than the total without the card, it would make financial sense to sign up for the discount card.
Aside from the prescription discount cards that you pay for, almost all counties these days offer a free prescription discount card for residents without insurance. These are generally available at your local pharmacy and are of course free of charge. Discounts from using these cards varies anywhere from 5 to 75% off retail price.
Since some of these discount cards cost a good deal of money, it may be more beneficial to instead look more thoroughly into health insurance. There are a number of governmental programs run by both the state and federal government for which you may be eligible.
by: Casey Trillbar
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
