A hair-brained idea: Social capital, Healthcare Co-ops & Very High Deductible Insurance

I have always been a fan of high deductible health insurance.  Insurance is for unthinkable risks, not everyday expenses.  For years I have had a $5,000 deductible policy for my family.  Before I had an HSA, I just set the deductible money aside and used it as needed to cover out of pocket expenses.  When HSAs became available, I was happy to be able to deduct those expenses.

I have often wondered why more people don’t do this, and it may be because most folks would spend the $5,000 deductible funds on other things… but I think I may have come up with a way to fix the problem for at least some of these folks.

I was reading a blog post (and an NPR story) about health care co-ops.  It seems when folks are actively involved in groups (the stories are specifically about evangelical Christian groups that created health care co-ops), their health care is significantly reduced.  It is also true that people with social connections are happier, and happier people tend to get sick less often.

The idea of the co-op is that thousands of people pay less than $300 a month for family coverage that covers up to $100,000 a year in health care expenses. Note: they will not cover health care expenses for abortions or STDs.  I pay about $300 a month for my health insurance, but remember the first $5,000 is not covered.

This got me thinking… Why not mix the two ideas? What if there was a co-op of high social capital people that would toss in a few dollars a month to cover the difference between, say $500 and $5,000?  I bet the cost would be very little, since most socially highly involved people have fewer healthcare costs overall.  This would reduce the cost to a manageable number for those without $5,000 in an account for deductibles, and give them courage to accept the higher deductible policy.

Seems something like this could be done on a governmental level… maybe a state level.  Then states would encourage people to get and stay connected to groups… and they could help their citizens.  The way health insurance is sold (different policies and requirements per state), it could not be national in scope.

Any state legislators reading?  I think it’s an idea that ought to be batted about.

Is the co-op idea how some dentists offer special insurance-like programs?  Is there a way for dentists to offer high deductible insurance with a co-op to cover anything in the middle?