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You are probably well aware of the crisis that is going on in American healthcare. Overall medical benefits gets more and more expensive each year.

Thus, many companies are cutting back on or canceling their employees' dental and healthcare benefits. Millions of people are now uninsured or under insured and looking for a way to save money on healthcare.

Those who don't have healthcare benefits either because they are unemployed, self-employed, or their job doesn't provide them, are having an even tougher time affording good health care. Unfortunately, the fact is that fewer and fewer people are getting the care that they need because it just is too expensive through pricey traditional insurance programs.

Even for those few who are fortunate enough to have some form of coverage, traditional insurance poses several undesirable challenges:

Pre-existing conditions are not covered. So, if you have a problem you may not be covered because it may be "pre-existing".

Waiting Periods. This means that, yes, just like the insurance agent said, preventive procedures are covered. But, not until the policy has been in effect for six months. In a nutshell, waiting periods may keep you from getting the care that you need when you need it.

So What Are The Alternatives?

Well, in today's over-priced medical arena, your best bet for affordable care is with a discount plan-even if you already have traditional insurance.

What Makes Discount Plans Any Different?

Discount Plans are not insurance, so they don't pay claims

This is a very important point to understand. With dental insurance--or any insurance for that matter, the goal of the insurance company is to get their money from you up front so that when you actually use the plan and they have to pay, you've already paid for it many times over. This is the basic principle on which insurance companies make their money.

Discount Plans, on the other hand, don't have to worry about getting money up front from you because they don't pay claims, they simply give you a great discount. They are able to negotiate these discounts because they have the power of thousands (sometimes even millions) of members. That is a LOT of buying power, and doctors and retail outlets are willing to give the members of these plans a good discount in turn for being referred to other members in the local area and prefer receiving payment at the time of the service.

Because of this, discount plans can afford to charge a small, easily affordable membership fee as opposed to an expensive insurance premium. Basically, they reduce your out of pocket expense. While traditional insurance is often limited, discount plans are unlimited Once again, since they must get all of the money that they can get from you before having to pay a claim, traditional insurance generally has several limits that come with it:

Waiting periods Annual limits Number of people who can be covered on one plan None of the above are concerns to discount plans. They don't want your high premium payments, they just want lots of people paying their low, affordable membership fee.

So you generally can get the care you need right away without having to deal with waiting periods. You can save money on healthcare without all the restrictions. There is generally no annual limit. And finally, the best plans will allow you to have an unlimited number of people in your home included on their plan. It just gives you more incentive to join, AND its more people who they can say are members, which means they can continue to negotiate the best discounts for their membership.

In many cases, discount plans may be used as a "wrap-around" benefit to cover gaps in traditional insurance, such as:

• Discounts for ongoing conditions
• Discounts for dental care after the annual limit has been surpassed
• Discounts for orthodontics and cosmetic dentistry
• Discounts for specialist care
• Discounts for immediate care during a waiting period
• Discounts while in the "donut hole"

In addition to their "wrap-around" qualities, discount plans may also be used to get additional savings in conjunction with traditional insurance.

Are all discount plans created equal? Of course not. To find the best plan for you, it is suggested that you spend some time looking over several plans until you arrive at the one which bests suits the needs and budget of your household.

Membership with a good discount plan---whether with or without traditional insurance---can end up not only saving you thousands of dollars over time, but also provide you with the best possible care at the most affordable possible price.

Saving money on healthcare has been a concern for many. Visit http://myplanpays.com/healthcare for a choice of great discount plans that are affordable and offer healthcare savings

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