TALON'S Matt McCormick: Many "Platinum" Health Plans Are Scams

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Jul 22, 2021, 07:00 ET

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Matt McCormick, Director of Partner Sales for TALON (www.talonhealthtech.com), the transformational healthcare technology company preparing clients to comply with the No Surprises Act and Transparency in Coverage Rule, is taking on the "bronze, silver, gold and platinum" marketing of health plans. He says it is misleading because the higher-priced, lower-deductible platinum plans don't deliver higher quality healthcare and can actually end up costing consumers far more than necessary for the very same amount of healthcare.

"It's simple," McCormick said. "So called 'platinum' level plans, with the lowest deductibles, generally involve vastly increased monthly premiums. And if you do the math, many consumers would have spent a lot less if they had paid lower monthly premiums and paid out of pocket until higher deductibles were satisfied. That's especially true when consumers have tax-free HSA accounts funding their out-of-pocket expenses."

McCormick gives a simple example. If a single individual pays $900 a month for a low deductible (say, a $1,000 deductible), "platinum" health insurance plan, then that's $10,800 a year. With the deductible included, that adds up to $11,800. He points out that the $11,800 might never have been spent on actual health care fees if paid out-of-pocket. But a plan that costs $500 a month with a $6,000 deductible and an HSA account actually comes in at $12,000 a year maximum, with more than half paid in pre-tax dollars. That's a better deal, even if the entire deductible is spent. And it might not be spent, leaving money to accumulate in the consumer's HSA account.

"One of the reasons TALON will always be a cutting edge company," McCormick said, "is because we're passionate about cutting healthcare costs. We have state-of-the art, best-in-class solutions for compliance with the No Surprises Act and Transparency in Coverage Rule. And we bring several other software solutions to our clients and their employees to facilitate rational, enlightened decision-making about how to optimize their healthcare spending— spending less, for equal or better-quality care. We are, literally, on a mission to stop the many ways American businesses and their employees are coerced into paying more for healthcare than they need to."

TALON has clients in 49 states across America.

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