#344 My Health Insurance Cost Went Up 300%… So I Fired Them w/Andy Schoonover

When my insurance premiums jumped 300% even though I almost never use insurance, I hit my limit. I’m healthy, I take care of myself, and I couldn’t justify paying more and more for a system that feels designed to work against the person funding it. So I went looking for alternatives, found CrowdHealth, joined as a member, and invited the founder on the show to unpack how this model actually works.In this episode of the Wealthy Wellthy podcast, I sit down with Andy Schoonover, CEO and founder of CrowdHealth, to talk about what’s broken in traditional health insurance and why it keeps getting more expensive. Andy shares the personal moment that pushed him to build CrowdHealth: paying for a procedure for his daughter, doing everything “right” in-network, then getting hit with an $8,000 bill and a denial for being “medically unnecessary.” That experience led him to build a community-based alternative where members fund each other’s medical bills and pay providers directly, without insurance middlemen driving prices up.We get into the practical details: how CrowdHealth handles big events, how cash-pay negotiation works, what preventative care looks like inside the model, and who it’s a fit for (and who it’s not). If you’re an entrepreneur, self-employed, or just done with the insurance racket, this is a real-world conversation about reclaiming control, lowering costs, and putting healthcare back between you and your doctor.What We Talked About:Why traditional health insurance is incentivized for prices to rise (and why denials happen in-year).Andy’s origin story: the “medically unnecessary” denial that became the spark for CrowdHealth.How CrowdHealth works: pay providers directly, negotiate bills down, and submit eligible costs to the community.The $500 “skin in the game” approach for health events, designed to avoid catastrophic deductibles.Preventative care and quarterly “specials” (including labs and tests) plus the annual wellness visit support.Prescriptions and how CrowdHealth can help negotiate high-cost meds.The care advocate model: one person assigned to you, vs. call-center chaos.⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to Health Insurance Challenges05:17 The Birth of CrowdHealth10:29 Understanding the Flaws in Traditional Insurance12:35 Addressing Concerns About Crowdfunding Healthcare16:26 Negotiating Costs and Community Support19:56 Reclaiming Healthcare: The CrowdHealth Model21:41 Navigating the Healthcare Landscape: Functional Medicine and Cash Pay26:31 Preventative Care: Investing in Health Before Illness30:45 Understanding Wellness Visits and Community Support31:56 The Future of CrowdHealth: Disintermediating Healthcare34:37 Empowering Patients: Who CrowdHealth is For and Not For💻 Links & ResourcesTo learn more and enroll in Crowdhealth:https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/Use code: KRISSTINAPay only $60 monthly advocacy fee per member and maximum crowdfunding request will be reduced to $39 for the first 3 months.