There is yet another vendor offering Texas educators a TRS ActiveCare alternative strategy which is (drum roll please)…………………….
Less Choice……..
This strategy assumes managed care networks (PPO, HMO, etc) pay some providers more than others for the same services. A Narrow Network Approach simply removes those providers who charge more than others leaving the cheap providers as “Preferred Providers.”
We call this a CPO – Cheap Provider Organization
Another type of CPO is one where there are virtually no limitations on provider access choice – members are not limited to a narrow list of “Preferred Providers.”
This kind of CPO is called a Cash Pay Organization – everyone loves cash including doctors and hospitals. Cash prices beat insurance prices every day, all day long, forever.
Little ole Joe Sixpak, accessing cash from plan assets, has more purchasing power than Blue Cross, Aetna and United Healthcare combined.
Texas school districts thinking about giving up TRS control over their district’s health plan have choices including PPO, HMO, EPO, and POS. However, these strategies are proven failures towards reigning in the ever voracious health care monster that continues to crush the middle class. TRS ActiveCare members have first hand knowledge of that.
Some marketers offering TRS ActiveCare alternatives are using many of the same failed strategies of the past, no different than the strategies employed by TRS ActiveCare. Others are marketing different strategies but cloak their offerings behind widely recognized status quo managed care logos that only applies to specified claims and not others, a deceptive and “half pregnant” approach to solving health care.
There are other proven strategies to consider such as those used by several school districts in South Texas. Their story is a story about How Several School Districts Solved Healthcare.
Their success has triggered interest. Mr. Dino Chavez in the video above advises the trustees of the Brownsville Independent School District (BISD) there may be a better way to pay for health insurance for district employees. He knows that just down the road, about 20 minutes away, there are two small school districts whose members seek medical care from the same hospitals and doctors as do the +7,000 employees of the BISD. He knows that these two small school districts of about 1,000 employee lives pay less than half as much and enjoy better benefits than do employees of the BISD.
We are finding more Texas school districts are considering TRS ActiveCare Alternative Programs. They truly care about their employees and are willing to accept change. They understand exploring the right kind of options will prove more successful than exploring the same old failed status quo strategies of the past 35 years.
RiskManagers.us is a specialty company in the benefits market that, while not an insurance company, works directly with health entities, medical providers, and businesses to identify and develop cost effective benefits packages, emphasizing transparency and fairness in direct reimbursement compensation methods.
