quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
I got some dental work done in my Cigna PPO. Its really insurance in case you get hit by a truck or something cause it high deductible with a high cost till a certain dollar amount is hit. I have a dental option in there. My total insurance is $300 a month for a single 45 year old. I am self employed so i pay the whole thing myself.

What it does is lets cigna do the bargaining and pricing for you up front.

My dental work had a retail price of $1200. The cigna price was $600. The deductible was $450 and insurance paid $150.

For someone who hates to haggle this is a good option cause it tells you difference between retail pricing and cigna ppo pricing. Its a 50% discount.

I dont think one can get 85% discount of professional services for cash payments in most places.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Norton:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
I got some dental work done in my Cigna PPO. Its really insurance in case you get hit by a truck or something cause it high deductible with a high cost till a certain dollar amount is hit. I have a dental option in there. My total insurance is $300 a month for a single 45 year old. I am self employed so i pay the whole thing myself.

What it does is lets cigna do the bargaining and pricing for you up front.

My dental work had a retail price of $1200. The cigna price was $600. The deductible was $450 and insurance paid $150.

For someone who hates to haggle this is a good option cause it tells you difference between retail pricing and cigna ppo pricing. Its a 50% discount.

I dont think one can get 85% discount of professional services for cash payments in most places.

Mike

The price Cigna offers (and all other insurers for that matter) is a multiple of what the fixed Medicare reimbursement is. If a physician relies on insured patients then he negotiates what that is (usually around 150% of the medicare rate)with each insurance company he participates with (meaning signs a contract to take care of their clients). If any doc doesn't like what an insurer offers he can simply decide not to participate.

I can tell you that what medicare and private insurers pay is not close to what virtually any procedure's value is. How much is my time worth if you take into account 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, 8 years of residency.....then add $80,000 for malpractice per year, the salaries of 4 FT employees and all other office overhead?

Oh....and remember that the CEO of the nation's largest health insurer made $66 million in 2014.

Thankfully I don't need insurance company money for anything other than my skin cancer patients.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I haven't found any professional in the Dallas area willing to give me an 85% discount for cash.

quote:

Originally posted by CowboyCS:

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I haven't found any professional in the Dallas area willing to give me an 85% discount for cash.

And that is probably why. I don't live in a metro, I live 3 miles outside of a town of approx. 1000 people in a 899mi2 county with a population of approx. 5500 people. I still buy my milk unpasturized in glass bottles from a local small dairy.

I'm guessing you won't be able to do a lot of the things we are able to do out here in the sticks. And yes I am perfectly happy not having ready access to a wal-mart or fine dining or culture or an airport; I am willing to travel to get those things so that I can have the freedoms I have that you don't.

My local Doctor even works in trade sometimes, I did some gun work for him a couple years ago and instead of being paid I had him put a credit on my file at his Clinic. I'm still carrying part of that credit since I haven't been to see him enough to use the full amount. Bet you can't find a Doctor in the Dallas area that would do that either.

Cash is king and barter is still alive and well out here in the country.