CrowdHealth

Cheap Health Insurance in Colorado That Isn’t Insurance at All: CrowdHealth

Most people seek health insurance because the world tells us we need insurance, but have you ever thought about whether your plan provides the coverage you need in Colorado? Most plans limit where you can receive care to prescribed networks of medical facilities and doctors, making it harder to search for services. You’ll also pay inflated prices throughout Colorado since your health insurance company has little incentive to negotiate on your behalf.

You probably won’t get much value out of your health insurance plan in Colorado, but you will get a high premium that takes a big bite out of your monthly income. If you just want to find affordable Colorado health insurance, traditional insurance options probably won’t meet your needs. Furthermore, you may find that you don’t have enough time to compare health insurance options in Colorado.

Instead, you need to find a company willing to uproot the entire medical insurance industry in Colorado to provide affordable coverage. CrowdHealth is that company. We’re an alternative to traditional insurance. Our crowdfunding plan leverages the negotiating power of many to secure lower costs for each Member, all while preventing financial ruin by sharing the costs of care with a broader community. Please continue reading to learn more about the pitfalls of traditional health insurance in Colorado and how CrowdHealth addresses them.

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How much do health insurance plans cost in Colorado?

Colorado residents can expect to pay a monthly premium of about $358 for health insurance whether it’s automatically deducted from their paycheck or an extra monthly bill to worry about. Of course, the premium isn’t the only thing you’ll have to pay for health coverage. Many health insurance plans in Colorado also have a high deductible you’ll have to meet before your insurance covers anything. The national average is about $4,500 for a healthy male in his 30s, and that only increases for older people and those with medical conditions.

You might think you’re in the clear when you meet your deductible, but many health insurance plans in Colorado also have copayments so you’ll still pay something whenever you need care. Deductibles reset every year as well, so the whole expensive cycle starts anew every time the calendar flips. Truly affordable health insurance can seem like a myth.

How is a crowdfunding plan different from traditional insurance in Colorado?

The CrowdHealth plan doesn’t involvea premium, deductible, network, or anything else associated with healthinsurance companies. Instead, we negotiate directly with health care providersto reduce costs and build a vibrant Community to share the remaining expenses.Here is a closer look at how our alternative to health insurance works:

1. Sign up for coverage

Enrollment in the CrowdHealthcommunity means promising to make a small monthly financial contribution to ourplatform. Only $30 of your contribution goes to CrowdHealth to coveradministrative costs, with the rest placed in a personal savings account you canuse to fund your needs or share with other Members on a strictly voluntarybasis. Your “generosity score” will increase every time you pay for someoneelse’s care, and you get your money back (minus a small fee) if you ever decideto cancel.

2. Visit any doctor in Colorado

While health insurance plans try totell you which doctors you can see in Colorado, CrowdHealth never does that.Choose any physician or health care provider you like and ask for the cashprice. If it’s $500 or less, you simply pay it. If it’s more than $500, youmake a payment in that amount and then submit a funding request to CrowdHealthto cover the rest. If you know that you need a costly medical procedure, we askthat you give us advance notice so we can work something out with yourprovider. We can negotiate the price of emergency procedures after the fact aswell. Doctors love getting paid in cash because it means fewer administrativecosts and wait times on their end, so they have every incentive to negotiatewith us.

3. Submit a claim

The average health insurance companyin Colorado makes filing a claim seem impossible, but the coverage we providecouldn’t be simpler. Just download our mobile app, take a picture of all ofyour quotes, and click the submit button. That’s it!

4. Enjoy the benefits of health insurance without insurance

CrowdHealth facilitates everyfunding request, so you can trust us to let other Members know about your bill.Your bill will be paid smoothly and quickly, with the money transferreddirectly into your account for maximal flexibility.

Are health insurance plans expensive in Colorado?

The standard monthly price of the CrowdHealth plan is $175 and is valid for all healthy individuals between the ages of 6 and 54. If you want to find low-cost coverage for the entire family, we offer enrollment to groups of 4-8 eligible individuals for $695 per month. All Members contribute just $30 to CrowdHealth for administrative fees, with the rest going into their accounts for future use. Therefore, none of the costs above is a premium in the traditional insurance sense.

Unlike most health insurance plans in Colorado, you’ll find that many of your medical bills become substantially more affordable with CrowdHealth. Our expert negotiators frequently reduce the cost of ER visits by 60 percent and other types of care by 30-50 percent, making it easier for our Community to pay the bills. We also provide free access to talk therapy and virtual health sessions in Colorado, and a licensed doctor can write you a prescription if your needs support it. We also provide personal care advocacy at no additional charge.

CrowdHealth has also partnered with a discount pharmacy, giving our Members a 50-60% discount on prescription drugs compared to retail costs. This discount is available even if your medications aren’t otherwise eligible for funding through the plan, adding further value.

Will my health care needs be met in Colorado?

Negotiating with healthcare providers is a major reason why CrowdHealth can make medical plans more affordable than traditional insurance in Colorado, and that sometimes means taking our business elsewhere. We won’t ask a patient in Colorado to receive treatment in Oklahoma over a few hundred dollars, but if you’ve received a quote for $90,000 and the same procedure is available elsewhere for $45,000, that’s a major difference for our Community.

Is your plan considered Colorado health insurance?

The CrowdHealth plan is not considered health insurance in Colorado because we do not technically guarantee the payment of medical bills. Some people might read that and think the coverage we provide is risky, but there are three reasons why we believe not qualifying as insurance is a benefit for our Members.

First, Congress has passed legislation capping how much money a health insurance company is allowed to make monthly off of the premium. The intentions were probably good, but in practice, this forces insurance companies to raise the monthly premium at every opportunity to increase profits and keep shareholders happy. Otherwise, their revenues will stagnate.

Second, health insurance plans are frequently marketed by the number of providers considered in-network. This incentivizes insurance companies throughout Colorado to sign up as many providers as possible while doing everything in their power to keep existing ones. If a provider asks for a higher price, the insurance company is likely to accept to maintain the network and pass the higher costs to consumers through their premium. Health insurance companies may even like higher price points to help justify a higher premium and profits.

In contrast, CrowdHealth doesn’t have any networks. The only ways we can increase our revenues are through enrollment and negotiating more favorable rates for our Members. We make more money when you save more money, giving us a common interest that’s foreign to most health insurance providers.

Third, the guarantee that many health insurance companies in Colorado make is weak. According to a 2019 study by KFF, insurance companies denied nearly 20% of in-network claims made that year. CrowdHealth is a much more reliable option for Colorado’s consumers even if we don’t make any empty promises.

What’s the catch?

Considering the raw deal that Colorado citizens have received from health insurance companies for years, everything above might sound too good to be true. The truth is that there are some limitations to the coverage we provide, though our health plans are still cheaper and more accessible than most insurance plans.

Some may not qualify for our plan as we strive to reduce the risk for our other Members. For example, women who are already pregnant are not currently eligible for enrollment because we cannot ask existing Members to cover prenatal, labor, and delivery costs for brand-new ones. Services such as alternative therapies, vision coverage, dental coverage, fertility treatments, long-term prescriptions, and cosmetic procedures don’t qualify for crowdfunding either.

People with preexisting health conditions qualify for our plan, but costs associated with those conditions do not qualify for crowdfunding for the first year. After that, there are strict maximums on how much money Members can receive for treatments associated with chronic health conditions, capped at $100,000 after the first two years.

If you compare these restrictions to the fine print on a standard health insurance contract, you’ll find that our plans provide much more flexibility for a fraction of the cost. CrowdHealth is dedicated to providing coverage to as many people as possible, and we hope to eliminate some of the restrictions on our health plans soon.

Who wins when you compare CrowdHealth to traditional health insurance?

Lacking health insurance can cause financial distress, but finding a plan with the coverage you need at a price you can afford can seem impossible. You have to compare networks so you don’t have to settle for mediocre doctors, deductibles, co-pays, premium rates, prescription drug coverage, and more. It’s a lot of high-pressure work considering the stakes involved.

You don’t want to roll the dice on your health, and that means trying to find an innovative approach to health insurance plans. If you’re ready to get started with a whole new approach to insurance, contact CrowdHealth today! We look forward to answering any further questions you have about Colorado health insurance and our crowdfunding plan.

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CrowdHealth vs "Affordable" Insurance

CrowdHealth is not insurance. We are a completely new and innovative solution to paying for healthcare. We value community and transparency over profit. Can your insurance company make that claim?