Health Insurance Goes on the Grocery Shopping List
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009Health Insurance Goes on the Grocery Shopping List in Individual Health Insurance
Health insurance companies are coming up with all sorts of
interesting ways to reach out to consumers who need coverage.
Today, we read that BlueCross BlueShield of Florida recently teamed up with grocery retail stores Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite to offer in-store shoppers health insurance and discount cards at the cash register.
Based on the article, it looks like a popular choice in the grocery store are inexpensive bare-bones health insurance plans. These bare-bones plans, available thanks to Governor Charlie Crist, are so affordable because they aren’t required to provide many of the state’s mandated benefits.
Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite will also have health care discount cards on sale. For participating providers, the cards offer discounts for basic health care services and prescription drugs.
Consumer alert! Discount cards are not the same as health insurance! You can get $50 off or so for a routine doctor’s visit, but you get little or no relief you need major care.
It’s quite the novel approach to selling affordable health insurance, though we’re not sold on how good it is for consumer. We’ve actually seen many people need the assistance of an agent before they buy.
If we hear more on how this is doing, we’ll let you know.
