Universal Health Card Scam, Update 2

Since it's Saturday and I've got a spare moment, I thought I'd check out who's been discussing the Universal Health Card lately. I've been getting a fair amount of search traffic to my post on the UHC -- it's good to see people taking "let the buyer beware" to heart by doing a bit of research.

A guy who uses the name UpDownMostly has posted a video to YouTube where he basically reads the ad out loud and says it sounds like a pretty good deal. (I apologize for the pornographic related video link you'll probably see that appears on the YouTube sidebar for this guy's page. This makes me suspect what else UpDownMostly has been doing with his YouTube account. Ahem.)

Another user, RootBrian, has posted a video response, pointing out that UHC is more likely a scam. RootBrian's video is unpolished and even a bit raw, but I think it's a good demo of how YouTube can be used to create an interactive conversation. Unfortunately, RootBrian's video has only been watched by about a third as many times as UpDownMostly's.

I originally suspected that UpDownMostly might actually be in the pay of UHC (yes, I'm that skeptical), but given that he's had his own channel on YouTube for several years, covering many different topics -- including his own health issues -- it's more likely he's just a guy who hopes that there is a quick fix for our health care problems... and isn't too good at the math of figuring out that $18 isn't free, and $588 a year ($49 x 12 months) definitely isn't free. Or even a particularly good deal for a bunch of unknown discounts (what us old-timers call a pig in a poke).

A few other finds:

• A letter to the editor in the Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) sheds a bit of light on the UHC.
• The New York Better Business Bureau weighed in, stating: "BBB staff found it impossible to determine the exact amount of these discounts without signing up for the card. Therefore, consumers will not know how much the card will save them before being billed for actual medical services." And to top it off, the same parent company is responsible for both the UHC and one of the "miracle" space heaters I've been writing about recently! (My first post; second post.) The BBB says: "One of these promotions, Heat Surge, offers two 'free miracle heaters' capable of providing dramatic energy savings." (Coincidence? I think not.) And this, my absolute favorite part of the BBB post: "It is important for consumers to understand that simply formatting an advertisement like a news story does not lend credibility to its claims." In my opinion, ads that try to look like news coverage should actually be perceived as less credible.
  
• The Rhode Island Office of the Health Commissioner blog has also posted a critique of the UHC.
  
• The AARP Bulletin Today followed suit.

Whew. But even with all that, I'm really amazed there hasn't been more written about it.