Los Angeles Times Columnist Examines Available Medical Discount Cards

In a Sept. 17 Health Matters column in the Los Angeles Times, columnist Trudy Lieberman examined health care discount cards, which offer reduced payments on "various medical services" for a nominal fee but do not provide traditional medical insurance. For a "typical" $600 to $700 annual fee, consumers can receive discounts from doctors, hospitals, dentists and pharmacies, which the companies providing the cards obtain by contracting with preferred provider networks. More consumers are signing up for the cards because they seem affordable, but "just because a card is affordable ... doesn't mean the bill disappears." The cards are not insurance policies and do not make payments or reimbursements, Lieberman notes. Steve Rutledge, communications director at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said, "These cards imitate a normal insurance card, and when you call, they imitate a normal insurance company." In addition, the card companies, such as Care Entrée and Chamber Health, impose stringent rules that "limit the usefulness of the cards," such as having to pay the bill in full within 30 days or paying a $1,000 upfront deposit for each day of an expected hospital stay. Also, most providers do not accept the cards, which are being marketed as a solution for the uninsured, and some doctors "do not even know they are listed on card company provider lists." Lieberman continues, "[B]ecause health care is so expensive, the [cards] may offer little help when the bills are really large," adding, "For now, it's caveat emptor for both consumers and health care providers" (Lieberman, Los Angeles Times, 9/16).