Money In Your Pocket: Access to Care Without Membership Fees
Membership may carry privilege, but at a cost. Sometimes, membership makes economic sense. For example, a Costco membership opens access to savings on items that are commonly consumed, like apples. However, a membership might not make economic sense if it opens access to savings on items that are rarely consumed, like artificial urinary sphincters. Does it make sense to pay membership fees and premiums to belong to a club that opens access to items that are rarely consumed? When does membership stop making sense?
The simple reality is that with rising deductibles and shrinking choice, more and more healthcare consumers are effectively, functionally without the privilege of membership that insurance premiums confer. Just because you have an employer sponsored health plan or health insurance policy doesn't mean that will have simpler access to weight loss, esophageal reflux, hernia repair, or reconstructive surgery. So no matter how you land on the quantitative analysis of the economics of premiums, the fact is that more and more of us actually do not even have a choice: we are without membership. So if we have a choice to pay a membership fee, should we? Or should we just bank the money and use it if we need it?
One reason to keep paying premiums individually or for your company's employee benefits is if you think you won't be able to gain access to surgery if and when you need it. After all, you can't just waltz into Costco and buy apples: there you have to have a membership. And so with surgery, if you don't come in under a health plan, you can generally expect a lot of confusion about quality, choice, cost, and all the rest.
This is no longer the case. You can have clear, simple access to quality care without a membership fee because Allevion, the healthcare logistics company makes and markets the surgery packages that you find on this web site, makes its surgery packages available to anyone, any time, with no membership fee. So you don't have to pay a membership fee that will get you access to an artificial urinary sphincter or total thyroidectomy if and when you need them. This is a how an open, transparent market works: it's there if you need it and it doesn't ask you to pay if you don't.
Maybe it makes more sense to just keep the money in your pocket and use it only if you need to.
Click here to read more about our value proposition for employers and download a useful pdf.
Click the video below to learn more about employee benefits with no membership fees.
