Many health insurance companies are now putting a greater emphasis on maintaining good health and preventative medicine rather than treatment of chronic issues.
In order to encourage people to lead a healthier lifestyle, these companies often offer discounts or incentive programs.
For example, my Blue Cross Blue Shield plan (in Minnesota) offers monthly $20 discounts on gym memberships if you log 12 or more workouts during the month. It also offers a $10 discount on enrollment in Weight Watchers Online. There are other discounts available for services like massage therapy and nutrition supplements.
I've also taken advantage of my insurance's Healthy Start Program for women who are pregnant. Once a month, a Healthy Start registered OB nurse calls you and chats with you about how your pregnancy is going and answers questions you may have. The nurse is also available to call to ask questions at any time throughout the month. After the birth of your child, you'll get sent a $50 gift card to major retailers like Target or Amazon. I loved this program! With both pregnancies I was lucky to get the same nurse, and she was really friendly and knowledgeable. It was well worth signing up for!
My friend Michelle told me that her Medica plan allows her to earn $25 per quarter for doing things that benefit her health like preventative care appointments, completing a 6-week seminars on topics such as losing weight, exercising, and reducing stress. She also earns 1 point for every 100 minutes she walks with a maximum of 10 points per quarter. At the end of the quarter, she can trade 25 wellness credits for a $25 gift certificate. By the end of the year, she could earn $75 from her health insurance company by doing things that are good for her.
Check out your health insurer's website. You may be pleasantly surprised at the discounts and information you find there.
1 hour ago
3 comments:
Thanks for the great tip. I also have Blue Cross and am going to check out their site tonight. I wish I knew about it when I was pregnant, I would of utilized it if the program was available.
One other note on health insurance is that you can call your doctors offices to negotiate prices on things that insurance does not cover. For example, I was between jobs and had an option of not using COBRA if it was going to cost more than just paying for the medical appointments out of pocket. We ended up having to take my son to the doctor and were presented with an $111 bill. I called and asked if there were discounts that could be applied. I was immediately given a 40% cash discount and then was able to negotiate from there. My final bill was substantially lower than the $111. I then did the same thing for all other appointments that month and was able to get all of them reduced. It never hurts to call and see! In the end we opted to self insure for the month and not use COBRA.
DISCLAIMER: This was not too much of a gamble since I could wait until the month was over and make a fully informed decision on how much we spent to decide whether I wanted to elect COBRA. If I had not had this time, I would have paid for COBRA. It is not worth it to me to ever go without health insurance
Good point, Kiera Beth... I would also add that you can always ask your doctor for free samples, too. They always have samples of various prescriptions and infant formula.
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