Ameriplan USA Scam? or really a relief to rising costs of Health Insurance?

Question

Someone approached me here (Yahoo Answers) citing Ameriplan as an alternative to high insurance premiums, even going as far to say I could get Health, Dental, and Chiropractic coverage as low as $59/month.

When I googled Ameriplan there were mixed reviews, and many used the "scam" word, which is not good to read.

Your information on this company is appreciated.

Answer 1

Let's just put it this way, considering the cost of health care, how much coverage do you think you will get for $59 and it be for health, dental and chiropractic????

That will tell you all you need to know.

Answer 2

scam would be a nice way to descibe it.

You would be better just to burn you cash and at least have the fun.

scam

rip-off

scam

any questions

Answer 3

Be very wary of any medical discount cards. They are not regulated by the Department of Insurance nor do the people that sell them need to be licensed nor insured. This means you have little recourse when you have problems with the plan. If you are tempted by the low price and claims of “save up to 80%” be aware that very few doctors actually take these cards. It does you little good if you have to drive 4 hours to find a doctor that will accept the card. Montana couldn’t find any doctors in the whole state that actually took the card and only one dentist who was on probation for unlawful activities so they banned the sale of the card and fined the company. See this link http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/wes... for more information. Many other states are investigating these cards as well.

Answer 4

Ameriplan isn't a scam - but it's not health insurance.  They don't PAY anything.  Basically, they are selling you a LIST.  The providers on the list, don't necessarily give you a discount.  It's not guaranteed.  It's not regulated.

Your $59 a month, is buying you a LIST, of providers, some of which MIGHT give you an unspecified discount.

It's not a scam.  But it's NEVER going to pay anything, on your behalf.

Answer 5

I dont know about regular doctors but for dentists and vision its a decent buy. Yes it is only a list of docs and its not insurance but the docs do work with the plan to offer their members some kind of discount. The docs little clinic in return gets some sort of advertising and potential clients. If a doc already has enough clients he probably wont choose to be on the list (wont work with the discount card provider) and offer any discounts. Being an independent dentist can be competitive and he/she can be going up against many other docs in their area and fighting for business. For the little guy dentist working with someone like Ameriplan can be beneficial for the doctor as well. If you live in a small town with a limited number of clinics in your area discount plans may not work for you but if you live in a big city that has clinics every where, a discount card program such as ameriplan can get you decent discounts.

Answer 6

I have a whole page on my site that is entitled "The Truth About Discount Health Plans"

http://insurancepickle.com/health-insura...

It's long, but the bottom line is if you end up in the hospital you'll pay the majority of that bill.  You're better off buying a $10,000 deductible health plan that will give you the same discounts during the deductible (if not better) and it won't cost much more -- may even cost less.  

When you get a $100,000 hospital bill (after it's discounted) with the discount plan you'll owe $100,000, but with the insurance you'd owe ~$10,000.  Sure it's a high deductible but with a discount plan they pay NOTHING towards your bill.  You have no deductible because you pay for everything.  They don't start paying at any point.

It's a dangerous, false sense of security.  Just get insurance...even if it's a high deductible...and be done with it.

Hope that helps,

Jeff