About us
Pocketero serves Americans who pay out of pocket for healthcare. We're blazing the trail for the future of American healthcare.
The problem
Most Americans pay for healthcare out of pocket. Millions have health insurance, but have not reached their deductible or can't afford to. They get charged mediocre prices through insurance. Another 30 million are not insured. They get charged horrifically high prices because nobody is negotiating for them. Around $400 billion per year is paid at these deliberately inflated prices.
Doctors and hospitals set their "chargemaster" list prices far above market rates, to allow insurers to win huge discounts. But that creates a dystopian problem for patients who are not paying through insurance. These "self-pay" patients might receive a small discount if they ask - usually around 15% - but they still end up with prices that are far above market rates.
If you are confused by the notion that those least able to pay are the ones singled out to pay the highest rates, welcome to the American medical marketplace.
Our solution
Patients must be part of a network to get reasonable prices on healthcare, but insurance networks are extremely expensive. That's why Pocketero is a non-insurance network. In fact, we are the leading network for patients who pay out of pocket.
Our network is based on a simple premise: patients who pay out of pocket should get the lowest prices. Both patients and providers win from this exchange. Patients receive fair pricing, and providers receive direct payment without the complexities, delays, and expenses of insurance.
Pocketero is inexpensive for patients, and free for providers. Learn more about why patients join, why sponsors join, or why providers join.
Our vision
Given America's current obsession with health insurance, our non-insurance approach might sound crazy. But health insurance is part of the problem, not the solution. That's why massive efforts to expand health insurance coverage are making the problem worse, not better.
As health insurance usage has increased, so have prices. This is largely because of an insurance dynamic called "moral hazard." Health insurance makes patients less price-sensitive and more likely to seek healthcare. That allows healthcare providers to increase prices faster than normal. Prices will only normalize after health insurance usage normalizes.
By making it viable to pay for healthcare without insurance, Pocketero is doing more than protecting financially vulnerable patients. We are actually healing what is broken in the the American healthcare market. We are restoring the financial simplicity that existed 60 years ago, while preserving medical innovation and high quality of care.
Americans haven't always paid for health care with public programs like Medicare—or even with private insurance. In fact, [in 1960] Americans used to pay for things like medicine almost entirely out-of-pocket
Our team
We're a team of professionals with deep experience in healthcare, technology, finance, and law. We have been self-pay patients, paying out of pocket for healthcare at prices that are far too high. We have felt the financial pain and fear. We share a vision for making our country a better place. A place where healthcare means comfort and safety, not an imminent threat of financial ruin.
Our company
Pocketero is a Public Benefit Corporation, which means we're officially focused on more than profit. Our "public benefit purpose" is to serve patients who pay out of pocket for their healthcare.