Demand Studios Healthcare Plans Finalized: Was It Too Good To Be True?

Details on the healthcare plans that Demand Studios announced it would be offering to tenured creators have been finalized, and the results are mixed.

The plans on offer are “FlexShield” benefits from a company called Insurance Purchasing Solutions. (Incidentally, Insurance Purchasing Solutions basically does not exist on the ‘net.)There are no copays and no deductibles, which sounds great until you realize that nothing is “covered” either. Instead, users of these plans will receive partial reimbursement from IPS when visiting an approved doctor. Depending on your monthly payment, the reimbursement changes: on the Demand Studios “Silver” plan, a single person (who’ll pay about $90 a month) can see a doctor four times a year and receive a $50 reimbursement each time. An employee who has a broken bone treated can receive up to $1,000 reimbursed for the treatment of the bone itself, and if you have to stay in the hospital, you’ll get additional reimbursement for your time there.

The kicker, though: “critical illness” like heart attack, cancer and stroke will only be reimbursed up to $10,000, and we all know that getting cancer costs way more than that. A nine-day stay in the hospital cost $30,000, says this personal finance blogger. So sucks if you get kidney failure, because now you’re out twenty grand.
Clarification: Your first critical illness diagnosis can be reimbursed up to $10,000 (depending on the disease), but hospital stay reimbursement is cumulative on top of that–so nine days in the hospital with kidney failure costs you $15,500 on the silver plan or $11,000 on the platinum).

A rep for IPS told us over the phone that this service isn’t intended to be a replacement for major medical insurance, but that depending on a person’s situation, this plan may be right for them.

We’ve reached out to Demand Studios’ rep for comment and will update this post when we hear back. DS rep Rose Maciejewski contacted us, and the info we got is too long for this blog post (so say we) so keep an eye out for the update.

What do you think? Was it too good to be true? Did Demand Studios snooker us all or are they offering something truly worthwhile?

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