Florida Medical Discount Plans
Medical Savings Plans

A PPO plan is an arrangement between a provider (doctor, lab, hospital, etc.) and the PPO network, whereby the provider has agreed to discounted rates for their services.

If you are a PPO plan member, you are entitled to receive this discounted rate for the services you receive. This page will explain how this arrangement works and how you can take advantage of these discounts.

What is a Medical Savings Plan?

A Medical Savings Plan is essentially a collection of medical providers who have agreed to offer discounted rates to plan members. We are mainly interested in the doctor and hospital savings. However, as you will see in a minute the discounts extend to many other medical areas.

Many of you have received a correspondence from your insurance company after a doctor visit or hospital stay called an Explanation of Benefits (EOB). This document shows you the amount that the provider has billed the insurance company, the amount that they "disallowed" and the amount they paid out. You might have noticed the large differences between what was charged and what was actually paid. This was due to the PPO contracted rates. Now, if you are really thinking ahead, you could ask the following questions:

1. How can I get the contracted PPO rate for all of my medical expenses?
2. Will I know how much of a discount I will receive in advance?
3. If I have to buy a card to get this discount, will it save me more money than the card costs?

Most people fail to consider the last questions carefully. There is one savings card that charges you $70 a month for their network. Hardly a bargain. They also have a tendency of exaggerating their savings. In the real world you can expect savings of 20% to 40%. Sometimes a bit higher, but I am trying to keep this real and this site is a consumer site not a multilevel marketing hype machine.

When should I consider buying a Medical Savings Plan?

If you have a good health insurance plan, do not have any preexisting conditions that have been excluded and do not plan to be paying maternity expenses any time soon, chances are, you do not need a complete medical savings plan. Although, you might want to consider one of the lower level plans for the accident coverage if you have kids or a job/hobby that might put you into the emergency room.

You might need this card if:

1. You plan to have a baby. The PPO rate for the hospital can be thousands less than you will pay and most private insurance plans do not have maternity coverage. Most times you cannot lose if this is your need.

2. You have a preexisting condition that is not covered by your health insurance. Many health insurance plans put riders on past medical conditions. You can reduce your bills for these problems by a significant amount.

3. You have a limited medical expense plan or a plan that does not have a PPO network (like temporary or student insurance). This will keep the doctors and hospitals honest and prevent them from inflating your bills.

4. You want to have a procedure that will never be covered by health insurance. Infertility treatments, bariatric surgery (stomach stapling) and cosmetic procedures for example. You can get them re-priced and made more affordable.

5. You are in an HMO and want to go to a non-network provider.

6. Your plan pays local usual and customary rates and you are in a very expensive out-of-networkhospital. If it is part of the network the fees will be held in check.

7. You want to have a test done but the insurance company will not pay for it because it is preventive (i.e., colonoscopy, stress ekg, etc.).

What other savings will I get?

There is a wide range of services that you can receive discounts on. They include dental, vision, prescriptions, chiropractic, alternative care, etc.

Which card do you recommend and where do I get one?

We are essentially an information site, however, we do have a sales arm and market one particular card. The card we use has a huge national network and is widely accepted. If you would like more information on this product, you may click here now.