Many Uninsured are Turning to Daily Dealers for Healthcare Needs

Daily dental deals double  

Groupon, LivingSocial, Amazon Local and other daily dealers seemed to have stepped up the pace for daily deals, especially in the healthcare section. According to data compiled by DealRadar.com, about one out of every 11 deals offered online is for a health care service. DealRadar should know, as they gather and list 20,000 deals a day from many group buying websites. DealRadar is also managed by Local Offer Network.

Dan Hess, CEO and founder of Local Offer Network said that almost 9% of all offers on daily deal websites in November were for dental work or some kind of medical treatment. That’s a huge increase, doubled from the 4.5% tracked at the beginning of 2011. The growth in health-related deals should be good news for millions of Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 46.3 million Americans under 65 have no health coverage.

Even the shakeout in the industry hasn’t hurt the number of healthcare deals being offered. According to Dan, industry leaders like Groupon are offering more deals and are moving into more markets. The daily dealers continue to move beyond dinners, facials and vacations by offering deals that are helping some people fill holes in their health insurance coverage.

Eye can see clearly now

LASIK eye surgery continues to be popular. Although the expense has certainly come down, it’s still rather costly. The procedure will typically run between $4500 and $6000. Many health insurance plans cover 25% (or less) of the regular price of LASIK, since it is considered a cosmetic procedure. That means the even the insured would still be forking out a chunk of change. I also need to mention that special eye drops are needed that are usually not included in the base price. Those will run an additional $75 to $200 per script.

Several times this year in various markets, Groupon and LivingSocial have run LASIK deals. Somehow, they managed to talk the docs into lowering those prices by 50 to 60 percent. Thousands of people were then able to afford eye surgery. It was in essence a buy one eye, get one free. There were those that were cleaver enough to put the surgery on credit cards and received cash back. I heard that one card offered a promotional 20% cash back specifically on Groupon purchases.

Other deals may indicate a direction for daily dealers

Looking back across the year, it seemed as though the number of healthcare deals increased as more Groupon clones came on board. Google and Amazon believe they can be players in this market. Now, deals are popping up all across the nation.

Members and visitors to these sites are finding a growing number of savings on healthcare services such as teeth cleanings, eye exams, chiropractic care and even medical checkups. They’re also offering deals on elective procedures not commonly covered by health insurers, such as wrinkle-reducing Botox injections.

In New York for example, a full medical checkup with blood, stool and urinalysis testing sold for $69 in December on Groupon. The regular price for this service was $200. In Seattle, a flu shot was offered on AmazonLocal for $17. The shot is normally $35. In Chicago (Groupon’s backyard), LivingSocial sold a dental exam, cleaning, X-rays and teeth whitening trays for $99, a savings of $142.

Many of these healthcare deals may be attractive for people with gaps in their coverage or no insurance at all. It is important to note that hopping from one healthcare provider to another is no way to establish a long term relationship with a doctor or dentist. Visiting the same doctor or dentist makes it easier to monitor how a patient’s health is progressing.

We have mentioned this in the past thru various Daily Deal Media articles how important it is to do your due diligence and research before buying a medical or dental deal. Referrals from family and friends as well as yelp reviews can be viewed as a place to begin. I personally don’t envision healthcare costs dropping. I believe that daily dealers have and will continue to help many of the under-insured or uninsured enjoy a more fulfilling life.

Source: USA TODAY