No. of Recommendations: 6
Nice story illustrating the perils of placing a $30 Million/year health insurance CEO between you and your doctor.
{{ When Cox, 49, and her husband, John Crowley, 55, discovered their ACA insurance costs were set to more than quadruple, they searched for less expensive options and settled on a short-term insurance plan that cost $565 per month.
Short-term plans typically charge less expensive monthly premiums, but often lack protections for consumers who buy their own health insurance.
Short-term plans don’t cover existing medical conditions or preventive care. And the plan Cox and Crowley chose came with a $10,000 deductible – the amount they must pay before coverage kicks in.
Cox and Crowley are healthy adults, but they are skimping on care and recommended medical tests because they can’t afford to pay the prices charged by health care providers. They are keeping the short-term plan as protection against a medical emergency.
Crowley had a recent medical scare when he developed leg pain and numbness. He delayed going to the doctor, but the pain became too much, Cox said. He needed an MRI, which an imaging center affiliated with the local health system said would cost $2,200 with insurance or $1,600 if he wanted to pay cash without using insurance.
Either way, he’d have to pay the full price because their insurance plan carries a $10,000 deductible. If he chose the less expensive $1,600 cash price, he was told that amount would not be applied toward his insurance plan’s deductible.Cox said she was “irate” because the health system's imaging offered a discount of $600 if they didn’t submit paperwork to their insurance plan.
“It felt like extortion,” Cox said. “You’re going to take us for an extra $600 just so we could put that toward our deductible?”
They eventually found another imaging center in St. George, Utah, that would complete the MRI for $399. The lower price made it worthwhile for the couple to make the 90-minute drive to and from the center. ))
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/06/25/he...intercst
