Our country's profit-driven healthcare system has hit working people hard. Insurance companies use your monthly premiums to pay for advertising, overhead, salaries, commissions, & bonuses and they grow rich by paying out less for your needs.

The Healthcare Crisis has left millions of people…

• Uninsured (45 million Americans have no coverage)

• Under-insured (Each month individuals, or their employers, pay billions for policies with deductibles, exclusions & limits that could bankrupt them in a medical crisis)

• Ignored (Companies ignore patients' needs by denying claims & refusing referrals)

To make matters worse, hospitals often bill uninsured people 5 times what they charge insurance companies.  The NY Times explained how healthcare providers routinely overcharge uninsured patients, citing the example of a gynecologist who charges uninsured women $175 compared to the $25 that he bills Group Health Insurance for the same exam.(1)  Modern Maturity Magazine also raised questions about the way hospitals, doctors and labs overcharge and double-bill patients.(2)  But, for the medical industry, this is just business as usual.

This is why UCA's medical benefit helps members and their families guard against billing abuses.  Our medical savings program is designed to give people direct access to provider networks so that they can avoid these oppressive practices. A low monthly fee entitles members to pay the insurance company's "preferred rate" (the PPO-allowable) for healthcare and this is often a savings of 10% - 30% or more on a hospital bill of thousands

(1) New York Times, 4/2/01, p 1        (2) Modern Maturity Magazine, May-June 2001, p 77-81