Share on Pinterest

Healthcare is broken (and how to fix it)

Reading Time: 4 minutes
The next Whole Life Challenge starts in:
SIGN UP TODAY

The rapidly declining state of healthcare.

I can’t check the news or open social media these days without someone is talking about the cost of health insurance and the cost of healthcare. It all costs way too much and insurance covers way too little.

For a normal person, like you or I, who simply wants to make sure they’re taken care of in case of an emergency, it can be a very scary thing. If you’ve been paying attention it seems like just getting insurers to cover basic, doctor-prescribed care is getting harder and harder every day. And so I want to share with you something we’ve never talked about before—health insurance. Or, even better, a real alternative.

Enter Crowdhealth.

We love CrowdHealth and want to share their mission with you. Crowdhealth is a real solution to the very real modern healthcare problem. It is a logical, grass-roots solution to health care burdens in a medical system that gets worse and worse every year.

First things first. I would never recommend something, especially something like this, that I don’t trust my own family with.

We’ve been using CrowdHealth in place of traditional insurance for our family for years. So what is it and why is it so revolutionary?

Unlike traditional insurance, Crowdhealth is not in the business of making money and denying as much as they can get away with. They are in the business of making sure you get the healthcare you need.

And it’s waaaayyyy cheaper than health insurance

As a CrowdHealth member, all we pay is a monthly fee of $55 (e.g., a family of 4 pays $220), and we’re asked each month to share in the medical burdens of other members, but no more than $120 per month per person.

That means an individual under 55 pays no more than $195 per month (Members over 55 require a max contribution of $280 per month). Each family member costs an additional $55 per month, but the monthly crowd contribution won’t exceed $420 no matter how big the family.

That means as a family of 5, we can be fully covered for health care burdens for $640 a month.

You might notice I keep using the word “burdens” and not “expenses.” That’s because this is a large part of how Crowdhealth manages costs.

The crowd expects everyone to manage their day to day healthcare costs. Any health event that costs less than $500 is covered by you. But the moment that event’s cost exceeds $500, the remainder is shared 100% with the crowd—with no cap.

If you end up in the hospital with a $50,000 bill, you pay no more than $500. 

No more worrying about what would happen if the unthinkable happened.

How in the world do they do it?

Crowdhealth is unique in how they help members handle medical expenses.

Like I just shared, Crowdhealth doesn’t cover the small or daily expenses.

Last year my daughter banged her head at a trampoline park and ended up needing staples. Where I live that cost us about $175 with a follow up to remove them. It was unexpected, but it was within the realm of something we could handle out of pocket. If you consider that we’re probably saving at least $600/month compared to insurance, it’s not that hard to stomach.

We submittted our bills just in case the costs exceeded $500, but we handled that one on our own.

Second, and even more important, Crowdhealth is masterful at negotiation. The crowd NEVER pays full price.

They’re very transparent and recently shared the breakdown of a member’s appendectomy (they share these every week). The member was billed around $40,000. But did they pay that? Did the people sharing the expense? We did not. Crowdhealth negotiated the bill down to around $10,000. The member paid $500 and the additional $9,500 was shared by the crowd.

Finally, as a member, you will have your own personal care advocate who will always help you get the best prices for routine care, tests, and procedures. Whether you’re crossing the $500 threshold or not, they’ll make sure you get the best price.

Not only is this a smart financial decision for our family, it gives me chills every time I see CrowdHealth do their magic for people.

From my perspective, the Whole Life Challenge community is a perfect fit for CrowdHealth (and vice versa!).

Crowdhealth takes care of people who take care of themselves. You won’t be covered for skydiving accidents, tiger taming injuries, or health conditions that are a direct result of consistent bad choices. But that means you won’t be paying for others’ bad or dangerous choices either.

If you take care of yourself, the crowd will take care of you.

We’ve partnered with CrowdHealth because of the high level of trust I have in them. I see Crowdhealth and the Whole Life Challenge as going at the same problem with complementary solutions.

Sign up using the code WLC and you will pay only $44 a month in crowd share costs for the first three months instead of the standard $120. It’s like getting one month free.

If you want to explore Crowdhealth, check out their site. You can consult with one of their experts. If you’d like, you can contact me directly at support@wholelifechallenge.com and ask us all about our experience. We’d be happy to share

Michael Stanwyck on FacebookMichael Stanwyck on InstagramMichael Stanwyck on Twitter
Michael Stanwyck
Michael Stanwyck is the co-founder of The Whole Life Challenge, an idea that developed during his seven years as a coach and gym manager at CrossFit Los Angeles.

He graduated from UCLA with a BA in philosophy as well as a degree from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, and feels food is one of the most important parts of a life - it can nourish, heal, and bring people together.

Michael believes health and well-being are as much a state of mind as they are a state of the body, and when it comes to fitness, food, and life in general, he thinks slow is much better than fast (most of the time). Stopping regularly to examine things is the surest way to put down roots and grow.

He knows he will never be done with his own work, and believes the best thing you can do for your well-being starts with loving and working from what you’ve got right now.