Why is it that in a country as affluent as the USA citizens are struggling to afford such a basic necessity as proper healthcare for themselves and their families?

Almost 50 million people including close to 9 million children have no health insurance coverage while 75 million are underinsured.

Why?

The obvious and superficial answer is that the cost of healthcare is too high for the average person to afford but this still begs the question as to why this is the case here in the US?

When CEO's of Health Insurance companies average over $8 million dollars annually and CEO's of Pharmaceutical companies make over $4 million dollars per year in compensation, why must the average working family be forced to pay over $1,800 every year in premiums in addition to over $1,700 in out-of-pocket expenses for a total of about $3,500 annually in health insurance expenses?

Affordable healthcare is fast becoming an oxymoron as healthcare premiums are currently rising 3 times faster than the cost of inflation with projections of the cost of personal healthcare spending set to double over the next 8 years in this country.

This is unacceptable, but what do we do about it?

If it's just a case of money being the issue then something I learnt years ago may be worth repeating here and that is, "no money ever leaves this planet".

A strange statement to make, I know, but think about it.

All the money that was here a year ago is still here in circulation, it's just been re-distributed into the pockets of those with inside knowledge who know how to apply that knowledge to attract wealth.

So, the key to affordable healthcare may be as simple as finding out what you don't know and learning how to apply your new knowledge effectively.

I believe as individuals, we have to start taking responsibility for our own situation and not continue depending on the government to take care of our healthcare needs.

While it's true that elected officials do have a mandate to act on our behalf in providing certain basic necessities of which proper healthcare should be one, we've still got to realize that this is a flawed society and while we're waiting for the Government to get its act together our loved ones may need urgent medical attention today!

So, what do we do?

Wisdom dictates that each individual find a solution that works for them and their family so that no one will be at the mercy of a mal-functioning healthcare system when an emergency arises.

Affordable Healthcare's one bright light on the horizon may be Medical Discount Plans or Medical Savings Plans, which have become quite popular in recent years.

Medical Discount Plans or Medical Savings Plans are programs that allow the average person the ability to reduce their medical expenses by providing discounts on a wide range of services, from doctor's visits and dental exams to hospital stays and prescription drugs.

The pros of Medical Discount Plans are that they typically require no qualifying physical exams, no contracts and you don't even have to be a citizen to participate.

They usually feature easy online applications, affordable prices regardless of age or health with the ability to cancel at anytime and some even offer free 30 day trial memberships to test drive the program before committing to it.

The only con that Medical Savings Plans have is that they are NOT MAJOR MEDICAL INSURANCE and as such, DO NOT PAY your medical bills for you!

This simple fact cannot be overstated because misunderstanding it has already led to several lawsuits with misinformed consumers crying foul at some companies offering these programs.

How Medical Discount Plans work is that the company offering them will contract with the same large PPO Networks used by top insurance companies, which allows the Medical Savings Plan member access to the same low rates enjoyed by the insurance companies, in exchange for a reasonably priced monthly membership fee.

When the member uses a medical service, for instance, a Doctor's Visit which typically costs about $75.00, the member pays his medical bill up front at the Doctor's Office then the company immediately reimburses the member for their Doctor's Bill thus reducing the member's out-of-pocket medical costs.

Such a program can reduce your medical expenses significantly especially after a prolonged hospital stay as some plans may reimburse members up to $1,000 per day for each day spent in the hospital up to 30 days per year including separate reimbursement for the Anesthesiologist, etc.

Not bad at all.

Affordable healthcare doesn't have to be a myth or become an oxymoron if individuals take responsibility and begin to manage their own healthcare expenses.

Toward this end, using a Medical Discount Plan might be exactly what the Doctor ordered.