Americans turning to daily deal sites for healthcare
Americans without sufficient health care coverage are turning to daily deal sites like Groupon or Living Social to get discounts on everything from dental cleaning to laser eye surgery.
U.S. citizens – who aren’t as lucky as Canucks with universal healthcare – are using these group deal websites to provide essential health services at a fraction of the cost.
Instead, he hopped on Groupon and bought a dental care deal for a local dentist.
The deal – which included a cleaning, exam and X-ray – cost only $39. That’s $151 less than what that dentist would otherwise charge.
It’s not just dental care that’s on the cheap – but an array of other services as well.
Physicals for $69 (usually $200) include a medical check-up along with blood, stool and urinalysis testing.
These medicare providers aren’t just offering deals out of the kindness of their heart – they hope to increase business in as many ways as consumers hope to save a buck.
The goal is doctors and other practitioners can get the word out about their services, and patients will return if there is something suddenly wrong (or for their next annual check-up).
Health-related deals are quite different compared to offers traditionally available from sites like Groupon or Living Social. Usually, their deals are for cupcakes or manicures.
There are downsides, however, with many deal purchasers complaining about poor service. Coincidentally, some businesses struggle to keep up with all the demand they’ve created.
Would you get a health service from one of these daily deal sites?
- Maurice Cacho, MSN Tech & Gadgets
Comments
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Posted by: chiropractor Sydney | Feb 17, 2012 1:18:46 AM
Medicare is bad in US now, I hope they can do something about it.
Posted by: dentist Bondi Junction cosmetic dentistry | Apr 18, 2012 10:59:23 PM
Since US Healthcare is under Big Businesses, medical coverage through the average US workers Employer is still the best opportunity for anyone to get the needed professional healthcare. For the average US citizen to go through a daily deal site just means that this is the next stage in Healthcare. Think of it like a big company being able to provide a better pricing deal for its employees.
Posted by: cosmetic dentist marietta | Apr 23, 2012 12:04:01 AM
People should still be careful about these daily deal sites. Some of the dental service providers there are only doing it to increase their patients for a single instance before offering them a more costly dental plan.
Posted by: Ronald Receveur | May 1, 2012 10:04:28 PM
This is a very negative indication of the health care status despite the seemingly positive tone of the article. I'm not a fan of playing the blame game, but this shouldn't be happening.