Andy Neary argues that medical ID cards work like unlimited company credit cards, with identical services costing $100, $200, or $2,000 depending on which payer employees use. Employers need to stop focusing on plan logos and start controlling how workers actually use their benefits.
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The biggest challenge employers face today is the fact that the medical ID card is nothing more than an unlimited company credit card. And employees can go wherever they want, and they can spend whatever they want. It's like having everybody buy the same services in the real world, but getting charged different prices based on the logo on their credit card.
So let's imagine it's a bright June sunny afternoon, and we drive from Atlantic City up to the Bronx to watch a Yankees game. And during the game, Nelson, Elizabeth, and I go to the team store because we want to buy Aaron's Judge jerseys. But when we get to the store, we discover there's no price tags on the jerseys. We're like, okay, that's cool. We're huge Judge fans. We want the jerseys anyways. So we each grab one, and we head to the checkout counter. And Elizabeth checks out first, and she's told her judge jersey is 100 bucks. She's like, okay, that's what I expected. So she pays her money, and she heads out the store. Nelson checks out next, and he finds out his judge Jersey's $200. He's like, that's strange. Elizabeth only paid $100. Maybe mine's better quality.
So he pays $200, he's happy, and he heads out the store. And then I check out, and I find out my judge jersey is $2,000. And after I pick my jaw up the ground, I go, how in the world can my jersey be $2,000 when those two paid a fraction of the cost for the same jersey? And the cashier looks at me and says, well, sorry, Mr. Neary, but you used a Discover card.
Now, folks, this would never happen at Yankee Stadium or any other baseball stadium for that matter. But you know what? This is happening every day inside the health care system. This is how employees are buying the MRIs, the CAT scans, the lab work, the surgeries, the medications they need with this company credit card. Well, the health plan is picking up the majority of the tab.
Now that employers recognize they're handing out these unlimited company credit cards, they have to start pushing their focus away from the logo on the credit card and focus on how their employees are utilizing that credit card.
