Company aims to help uninsured without actually insuring them

Health insurers have lots of competition vying for the same consumers, especially on the health insurance exchanges, but one non-traditional company could be looking to compete against traditional insurers in a whole new way.

Transparent Healthcare helps people who lack traditional insurance gain access to primary care physicians, specialists and certain procedures at Medicaid rates, reported MedCity News.

"We are the Costco of healthcare and are addressing the concerns of the 31 million Americans who are uninsured," Betty Heiman, co-founder and CEO of Transparent Healthcare, told the news outlet.

Its members pay $39 per household, regardless of whether everyone living in the house is related. Then Transparent Healthcare provides a list of participating providers after its members enter a zip code for where they live or work. Those providers have agreed to charge Medicaid prices for their services. The company also offers unlimited access to a telemedicine service.

"We are creating a new platform for consumers so they're not left out of healthcare," Heiman said. "It is very much a concierge service for the uninsured, for those left out of the typical workings of healthcare."

Heiman says Transparent Healthcare isn't an insurance company, but rather provides an alternative to typical health coverage. "The reason why [we] sound like an insurance company is we are providing the same access, but the price points and concierge level service that we offer--even insurance companies don't provide this," she said.

Founded in 2008, Transparent Healthcare has focused its business on New York City and the surrounding areas. But it has now expanded to Atlanta and will soon start operating in Florida. The company has 4,000 members and will likely grow as it enters new markets.

As Transparent Healthcare continues to expand, it could have a similar disruptive impact on the industry as start-up Oscar Insurance, which already covers 16,000 members in New York and has been widely praised for its innovative methods, FierceHealthPayer previously reported.

To learn more:
- read the MedCity News article

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