Get protection from large or unexpected health care bills with the Health Access Cooperative (sometimes called the co-op). This membership comes with low monthly costs and low upfront costs per medical incident; you pay just the first $1000, $2500, or $4000 per incident. No high annual deductibles like traditional insurance!
- We are a member-owned consumer cooperative where members access affordable health care with none of the overhead or run-around of an insurance company.
- The Health Access Cooperative is a proven approach that allows you to stop funding insurance company profits and instead join together with other individuals to access affordable health care on your terms.
- We are truly patient-centered because we are owned and operated by the very people we serve. Customer service and satisfaction are our measures of success, not profit.
- While your Health Access Preventive (see above) covers routine health care such as primary care, basic wellness and labs, and prescriptions, there are times when medical expenses go beyond routine care. That's where the Health Access Cooperative comes in because it’s designed for larger, unexpected medical costs.
Your Health Access Cooperative membership is there for larger medical expenses, but it’s much more affordable than traditional insurance. Here’s why:
- Private insurance pays for day-to-day medical care, after an annual deductible has been met. The co-op never pays for preventive medicine of any kind; that’s what your Health Access Preventive is for. By focusing just on big and unexpected expenses, the co-op limits the overall cost of the benefit.
- Health Access Cooperative is a member-owned organization and is not trying to make a profit or maintain expensive overhead costs. The co-op takes in monthly membership fees from members and distributes them with very few added costs. That means you keep the savings as a co-op member.
- Health Access Cooperative doesn’t use networks, meaning you can shop around for different pricing on the same services and choose the lowest cost option with the highest quality offering, rather than being stuck with whatever is available in your network and just paying the bill, even when it is higher than what you could get from another medical provider.
- Hospitals and providers bill insurance companies for much more than the services are actually worth, which drives up costs. That’s why hospitals and providers almost always offer self-pay discounts. As a co-op member, you are billed as self-pay, meaning both you and your co-op may pay much less for the same services.
- Health Access Cooperative does apply limits in some circumstances or for certain medical services which is why we also recommend traditional insurance plans for those that need or want it. Learn more in this video about when you might need or want traditional insurance, particularly if you have an active medical condition, are a tobacco user over age 50, or are taking expensive medications.
