I’ve found it. I’ve found a way to escape Obamacare. Actually Dad found it, but because I like sharing cool stuff with our clients and readers, I’m going to go through how even in the face of rising insurance rates, he was able to cut his medical coverage costs in half and reduce his deductible by 2,500%. And I’m going to show how you can do it as well whether you’re single, have a family, are self-employed, or own a small business.
Most of our clients know that Dad and I come down to Scottsdale, Arizona for the winter. This last week, Dad and I met downtown for lunch, and I noticed he was in a particularly good mood. In fact, when he got out of his car he was smiling ear to ear. I asked him what was up, and he replied “Wait until you get a load of what I just ran across.”
The Problem
As with most self-made and self-reliant Americans, Obamacare had really stuck in my Dad’s craw. He and my stepmom are exceptionally healthy, take great care of themselves, and hated being told they must enroll in a train-wreck of an insurance program that specifically exempted the very politicians who dreamed it up.
He’d received a notice a week earlier from his insurance company informing him that his premiums were going to more than double and his deductible would go from $5,000 to $12,500. Under the new rules, he also learned that his new insurance policy had to include coverage for maternity and abortion. Pregnancy and abortion coverage for a 62 year old man? Welcome to the bizarro world of Obamacare.
As the signup deadline loomed, Dad had spent a lot of time searching the internet for alternatives, but he’d come up empty handed. Because of the new insurance rules, every single insurance company is affected, and all of them are changing the way they do things. I knew he was getting frustrated because, as a result of the new law, every insurance company he talked with or researched had the same set of problems.
Then he found an alternative.
The Solution
I asked him to explain this new find, and he said, “Technically its not insurance, but it satisfies the requirements of Obamacare. All the while it takes care of the members and gives them an opportunity to help other people, and yet have funds available for their own medical expenses.”
Its called a person-to-person cost sharing structure. I’d never even heard of it, but its been around for quite a long time. Its a different way of handling health and medical coverage, but as you’ll see, its much more cost-efficient. Also, because its run by a non-profit organization and is not technically insurance, all of the looney toon rules that are coming down the pipe from Obamacare, do not apply.
How it Works
Let’s see how it works. Even though this is technically not insurance, I’m going to use insurance terms so that it makes more sense.
Imagine if a group of individuals who share the same beliefs and healthy lifestyle all sent their premiums into an escrow account, and then only when they were sick submitted their bills, and those bills were immediately paid from that account. Then imagine a huge discount was negotiated with doctors and hospitals on the medical bill because of the fact that the bills are paid in cash within 30 days. As long as you kept making your monthly contribution, your medical bills would be covered by the other members of the organization.
Then imagine that at the end of the month, if the premiums coming in exceeded the bills that were paid, in order to offset future shortfalls, the extra funds are placed in an escrow account that is transparent to all the members. Any member could log on and see the total amount in the escrow account, including how much of their month’s premium, if any, went into it.
The company started in 1988, and is a nonprofit organization with a completely transparent accounting system. You can log on to your online account at any time to see exactly who’s medical bill was paid with your monthly contribution.
Because the members affirm that they believe their rights come from God they are exempt from Obamacare. They agree to abstain from drugs, tobacco and excess alcohol and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Even though it’s not insurance, under this share pay system, Dad and my stepmom are able to have 100% of their medical bills paid by members. Their membership plan pays 100% of their medical costs up to $1 million after the first $500. They are considered covered as long as they keep contributing $300 per month.
Very few have signed up for Obamacare, and the government and state websites have been so plagued with technical glitches that some people literally have given up. One poor guy in Atlanta signed up and paid two months worth of premiums. However, when he had a heart attack, he was horrified to learn his application had fallen through a crack, and he was not covered. He’s looking at almost half a million dollars in uncovered medical bills.
Compare all that to the person-to-person cost sharing structure. Dad told me it took him about ten minutes to sign up, and coverage begins immediately.
One Fox news article said that over 30,000 conservative Christians have signed up for plans like this since October 1st.
I’m happy to say that my dad and stepmom are among them. In a short while, I’ll be joining the ranks as well.