How to Supplement Your Insurance Coverage With a Discount Health Plan

People with health insurance still are paying for part of their medical expenses.

According to a recent article by US News & World Report, 25 million Americans were underinsured in 2007, compared to 16 million in 2003. That means that even though they have insurance, their policy does not cover all their medical expenses.

But here's the interesting part...

The ones who were hardest hit were middle income families whose income was 200 percent above the federal poverty level, or those whose family income was $40,000 or more.

And here’s another interesting, but tragic find...

The report found that those who are underinsured are people who have insurance but spend 10 percent or more of their income on out-of-pocket medical expenses. It also found that the underinsured who were below 200 percent of the poverty level spent more than 5 percent of their income on out-of-pocket medical costs.

If you have health insurance, you know there are certain procedures your policy doesn’t cover. For example, some insurance policies don’t cover dental work, certain cosmetic surgery procedures and many outpatient services such as physical therapy, laboratory procedures and hearing services.

You can sign up for a discount health plan that includes health services your insurance policy doesn't cover...for about $39 a month per household.

More on this later, but yes, it's true that...

Even the Insured Are Not Getting Adequate Care
The researchers also found that those who were underinsured were “more likely to go without needed health care problems” compared to people who have adequate health insurance.

In fact, the article says, 53 percent of the underinsured had to put off needed medical care, such as not seeing a doctor when sick, not filling prescriptions and not getting recommended diagnostic tests or treatments. Cathy Schoen, a senior vice president at The Commonwealth Fund, commented that “the underinsured look a lot like the uninsured.”

Some of the Underinsured Are Doing This...
Some people whose current health insurance doesn’t cover all of their medical expenses procedures or who have a high deductible, are signing up for a discount health plan (or health discount plan).

Here’s how discount plans work.

You sign up with a company that offers the plan and agree to pay a certain amount of money per month. In return, the company provides you with a discount card and a list of doctors and dentists who have agreed to cut 25 to 50% off your bill. Discount plans are not insurance. You are responsible for paying for your services, but at the discounted rate.

Click here for questions & answers about discount health plans.

The advantage of a discount health plan is that it can be used to cover items not covered by insurance.

I have researched more than 40 health discount plans, I found one company that offers a plan that satisfies my perception of what a "good" family discount health plan should include.

It includes health, dental, vision, pharmacy and chiropractic for less than $40 a month. For more information about this particular plan click here.