Is AmeriPlan a Scam? (Surviving 25+ Years in Business is not by Luck)
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Is AmeriPlan a Scam? (Surviving 25+ Years in Business is not by Luck)

Welcome to my AmeriPlan review!

Chances are, someone has just introduced to you this "business opportunity" where you can save money on healthcare and also make money at the same time.

Sounds like a pretty good opportunity, huh?

But, is AmeriPlan a scam? And is it too good to be true to save and make money at the same time?

Let's find out...

AmeriPlan Review Summary

Product Name: AmeriPlan USA

Founder: Founded by Dennis Bloom (CEO) and Daniel Bloom (President & COO) in 1992 in Texas, USA

Product Type: MLM business offering discounts for healthcare services

Price: Packages ranging from $24.95 to $269.95

Best For: Americans in certain States (I'll explain later)

ameriplan review

Summary: AmeriPlan is a MLM business which focuses on recruiting people into the system. Despite they offer legit services, it's only for certain States in the US. If you're not in the US, this program is definitely not for you. Check out the States that are excluded for this program here.

Rating: 45/100

Recommended: No

More...

What is AmeriPlan?

AmeriPlan is a Discount Medical Plans Organization (DMPO) and it claims itself to be the largest value-oriented & discounted fee-for-service plan.

Err...so what does that mean, Jerry?

Basically, AmeriPlan is a company that offers you discounts on various healthcare/medical services if you pay them a monthly fee.

It's kinda like an insurance plan but it is NOT.

ameriplan insurance disclaimer

AmeriPlan Disclaimer

AmeriPlan acts as the middleman between the general public who needs healthcare services and service providers, such as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, etc.

What AmeriPlan does is that they work with these healthcare service providers and negotiate on a special discounted price for AmeriPlan members.

The discount varies from service to service. In general, discounts range from 15-50% but some services like teeth cleaning and X-ray can have discounts up to 80%.

On the other hand, AmeriPlan members will pay a monthly fee depending on the package they choose and they can enjoy the healthcare benefits from these AmeriPlan partners.

That's why AmeriPlan claims themselves to be the smart alternative for the uninsured and the under-insured.

Back in 1992, AmeriPlan started off by only providing dental care discounts because Dennis & Daniel saw the need for dental care services.

There were 58 Million uninsured Americans with no health savings plan.

Due to the growing demand, they soon expanded their services and AmeriPlan now offers discounts for services like:

  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Prescription
  • Chiropractic
  • Physician
  • X-ray
  • Lab
  • Hospital Advocacy
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I Created My Own 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income at just 21 Years Old!

AmeriPlan Business Opportunity

What I've just covered is the part on "saving money". Now, here's the part on "making money" with AmeriPlan...

There are 2 main ways for you to make money with AmeriPlan:

  1. Earn retail profits by selling their healthcare packages
  2. Recruit people to become Benefit Consultants (BC)

Yes, AmeriPlan is a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company.

So if you want to make money with them, you have to pay a fee to become their Benefit Consultant (BC) which is basically their "salesperson".

Once you're a BC of AmeriPlan, they'll provide you with a number of training and resources to help you build your business. For example, you'll get:

  • BC Business E-Kit - Digital Starter Package to help you start your MLM business
  • 5 E-commerce Enabled Websites - For you to build your brand, collect leads & generate sales
  • BC Back office - Platform for you to track your business performance, access training materials, tools and other resources.

These things are in place for you to sell AmeriPlan's products as well as help you recruit more people into the system.

AmeriPlan is a typical MLM business because you'll earn commission for the sales that your downlines bring in.

multi level marketing pyramid

Illustration of MLM structure

I'll explain to you the compensation plan in just a moment.

AmeriPlan Product Lines

AmeriPlan has 3 main product packages...

1. AmeriPlan Dental Plus ($24.95/month)

This plan gives you savings on:

  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Prescription
  • Hearing
  • Chiropractic services
ameriplan dental plus

2. AmeriPlan MED Plus ($24.95/month)

This plan has the same price as the Dental Plus plan but it's a separate plan with totally different service. This plan offers:

  • Telemedicine (24Hr access to a doctor by phone or Email)
  • Hospital Advocacy
  • Ancillary Care
ameriplan med plus

3. AmeriPlan Deluxe Plus ($39.95/month)

Deluxe Plus is basically the combination of Dental Plus and MED Plus. So you can enjoy discounts for the services offered in both package at a lower price.

The good thing about AmeriPlan's package is that each of these package can cover the whole household, not just yourself.

ameriplan deluxe plus

So I think that it is pretty cost-effective.

However, if you want to become a BC to make money with AmeriPlan, you still have to pay a $24.95 Annual Enrollment Fee (AEF) and a $20 registration fee.

Take Dental Plus package as an example, your total cost of starting your business is ($24.95 + $24.95 + $20) = $69.90

Afterwards, you need to continue paying the $24.95 monthly fee and the $24.95 annual fee.

AmeriPlan Compensation Plan

AmeriPlan pays 40% commission to all the commission-qualified members.

They also have several bonus incentives in place to encourage members to work harder and "recruit more people".

One famous incentive is the Cadillac Club where you can win a Cadillac if you earn $50K within a 12 months period and maintain a $4K monthly income.

All I could say is that these kind of incentives are only for those few top earners. Majority of the members will never reach that level and enjoy that reward.

ameriplan compensation plan

This picture shows the compensation plan of AmeriPlan.

The vertical column represents your rank within the company and the horizontal rows represent the number of generations.

Number of generations refer to your downline.

Let say you're qualified for the rank SESD, which means you need to have at least 9 qualifying RSD sales. And you can earn commission down to the 3rd level of your downline.

I know it's quite hard to understand this because it is indeed complicated.

All you need to know about there compensation plan is this:

  • You earn 40% commission for all the sales you make
  • You can earn commissions from the downlines of your downlines down to the 5th generation (This is what makes this a MLM business because it is "multi-level")

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Who is AmeriPlan For?

First of all, it is only for Americans who are living in certain States of America because their services are not available in all other places.

Secondly, you need to be good at networking and talking on phones because one of the strategies they teach is to do cold-calling.

Pros & Cons

The Good

1. More Than 25 Years in Business

AmeriPlan was launched back in 1992. It's been in business for more than 25 years.

I believe there are some good reasons for a company to survive for so long.

If it is a scam, it would have been shut down long ago.

2. A Relatively Cheap MLM

I would say it's cheap as I've seen many other MLM companies asking you to pay hundreds of dollars per month just to be eligible for commissions.

However, AmeriPlan only requires you to pay a monthly fee of $24.95 and make at least one sale per month to be qualified for commission.

Also, AmeriPlan's package covers the whole household.

They said that:

"A household membership includes all residents in the household including parents, children, relatives, significant others and all permanent residents of the household!"

So basically you're spending $24.95 per month to give your family a healthcare discount and a potential to make some residual income.

3. Decent Rating

AmeriPlan have pretty decent ratings on websites like Glassdoor & indeed. The rating is more than 4 out of 5 at the time when this review was written.

ameriplan rating review

AmeriPlan rating on indeed

ameriplan rating review

AmeriPlan rating on Glassdoor

Although AmeriPlan is not accredited by Better Business Bureau (BBB), it has an A+ rating in the system:

ameriplan bbb rating

AmeriPlan rating on BBB

4. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

This requires no further explanation. If you're not happy with their service, you can always request a refund within 30 days.


The Bad

1. Google Trend Decline

ameriplan google trend

AmeriPlan on Google Trends since 2004

I've just done a search on Google Trends and found out that the public interests toward AmeriPlan has been declining over the years as compared to year 2004 when it was the most popular.

This may be telling us something about this company. I've even heard people saying that this company is now losing money.

It's just a rumor but I think it's worth taking into our consideration.

2. Limited AmeriPlan Partners

Despite they claimed that they have over 200,000 healthcare providers working with them, there are still many who don't.

One problem members have experienced is that there are not enough AmeriPlan partners for them to enjoy their discounts and bonuses.

For example, if they you go to a dentist who is not a partner of AmeriPlan, you have to pay the full price. No discounts for you.

3. Ineffective Business Strategy

Like I've mentioned earlier, one of the ways they recommend is to promote AmeriPlan via cold-calling.

Basically, you need to call random numbers and try to sell AmeriPlan to the people on the other side of the phone.

It's a marketing strategy of the past. It doesn't work anymore today.

Since AmeriPlan started back in 1992, I can see why they recommend this strategy.

They're definitely moving more to the online world. This is also why you're given your personal websites once you become their Benefit Consultant.

But they're still lacking a lot of important marketing tools like traffic and lead generation.

Take a look at My Lead System Pro. It is a pretty good tool for network marketers to generate more leads and sales online.

Just by using the duplicated websites given by AmeriPlan is not enough to make money.

4. Complicated Compensation Plan

Could you understand my earlier explanation regarding the compensation plan?

Well, there are a lot more details to the compensation plan. I've tried my best to simplify it as much as possible.

All in all, AmeriPlan has a really complicated compensation plan from what I see.

5. Only Available in Certain States of America

As you can see from the name of this company, it only offer services in America. But there are quite a number of states that AmeriPlan doesn't offer their services:

Alaska, Guam, Montana, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, US Virgin Islands, Utah

Is AmeriPlan a Scam?

AmeriPlan is not a scam. They don't survive for more than 25 years by pure luck.

If it is a scam, it would have been shut down long ago.

However, I really don't like the fact that their main focus is about recruiting people into the system. This is a very common problem for many MLM businesses.

Also, if you want to make money with AmeriPlan, there's a high chance that you are going to pitch to your friends and family members about this "business opportunity".

And before you realize, you're already sabotaging your friendships and relationships.

Even though AmeriPlan is not a scam, I wouldn't recommend it either!

How I Make a Living Online...

Affiliate Marketing is my top recommended business model for anyone to make money online.

The reason is simple...

  • You don't need to recruit anyone to make money
  • You have the freedom to promote any products you want and not be restricted to only promote the products from on MLM company
  • It's Free to get started

In fact, with affiliate marketing...

I've personally created a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income Stream and become financially independent at just 21 years old without any College degree or working experience!

Through my own hard work, I went from a broke restaurant waiter to living my dream laptop lifestyle in less than a year's time...


If you want to discover the secrets of how I did it at such a young age, click here!

Jerry Huang
 

Jerry is a young aspiring Internet Entrepreneur who started his online business at the age of 18. He is currently a Full-time Affiliate Marketer at Wealthy Affiliate, a community to help anyone start their own online business without prior experience. He actually achieved Financial Independence at the young age of 21. Read more about his story here!

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 11 comments
Faith Taylor - April 28, 2019

Great review, Jerry. I personally don’t like MLM companies – recruiting others was never my thing. I just like more independent income which I can control all by myself. In MLM systems too, it’s just like any other biz op out there – less than 1 out of 10 people will stick with it and they will eventually make it, others will simply quit!

Reply
Ash - November 21, 2018

Hello Jerry, and thank you so much for the great review. I’ve never been a fan of MLM companies. I totally agree with you about the recruiting focus of MLM businesses and as far as I know, in most of them, only the top 1% will benefit from the commission and most will earn very few money. So, despite the good ratings for Ameriplan, I will stay away from them.

Reply
    Jerry Huang - November 25, 2018

    That’s right! I’m glad you agree with me 🙂

    Reply
Heather - March 20, 2018

I know a couple of people who have been in Ameriplan for years… and I checked it out once because a friend was recommending it. It just didn’t seem like I would get much benefit from it. So, I decided it wasn’t for me.

If I remembered correctly, there were not any participating doctors in my area. I was told that I could recruit doctors and dentists to offer the plan but I did not like that idea. It’s tough getting doctors to try something new. Seemed like a real hard sell.

Reply
    Jerry Huang - March 20, 2018

    Hey Heather,
    I didn’t know you can also recruit doctors to join them. But I agree with you it’s a really difficult task and definitely not worth the time.

    Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience and I’m glad that you didn’t get involved in this.

    Reply
Kay - March 20, 2018

Hi Jerry,

That was a great review. I have heard so much about them, but like you mentioned it is only available in the United states (certain states). Anyway, it would not be something I would be interested in. It’s obvious that it is a pyramid scheme, which means it is hard to make money this way.

Cheers,
Kay

Reply
    Jerry Huang - March 20, 2018

    Hi Kay,
    Thanks a lot for dropping by!

    I just want to correct you that AmeriPlan is not a pyramid scheme. Pyramid scheme is something that offers no products or services and the only way to make money is by recruiting people. In the case of AmeriPlan, they have real services and recruiting people is not the only way to make money (although they recommend it).

    MLM does not equal to a pyramid scheme. AmeriPlan is just a typical MLM company.

    For more information and comparison between MLM, pyramid scheme and affiliate marketing, I would recommend you to check out this post here!

    Reply
Norman Richards - March 20, 2018

A very detailed review and a lot of great information. As far as I can see, this program seems to have a lot going on and those have some level of professionalism. But the downside other than what you’ve laid out in the cons is that it is only available to persons living in the United States and it is an MLM.

Which means it is a pyramid scheme that makes it a lot harder to really make money this way.

Reply
    Jerry Huang - March 20, 2018

    Hey Norman,
    Thanks for your comment. I really appreciate you to drop by again.

    I would like to correct you regarding the pyramid scheme part. MLM does not equal to pyramid scheme. MLM has a “healthy pyramid” which have real products and services. However, if there’s no real products and services and the only way to make money is by recruiting people, then it is an “illegal pyramid”. And Pyramid scheme usually refers to the “illegal pyramid”.

    In the case of AmeriPlan, it’s not a pyramid scheme as it has real services to offer and recruiting people is not the only way to make money. So AmeriPlan is a typical Multi-level Marketing company.

    For more information regarding the difference between MLM, pyramid scheme and affiliate marketing, check out this post!

    Reply
Lee Ann - March 20, 2018

Thank you very much for this information. I have checked out AmeriPlan a few times but never leaped into it.

I have experience in the healthcare field and had thought that maybe by joining them I could help others from the comfort of my own home.

I am not able to work outside my home and was looking for a work from home home opportunity. But I just couldn’t get past the point of it NOT being an insurance company and the fact I would have to call and try to sell their products.

I am glad I stumbled upon your review. I won’t be checking into them again. I am not one for the MLM side of things.

Reply
    Jerry Huang - March 20, 2018

    Hey Lee,
    Thanks for stopping by and I’m really glad that my review here helps. There are a lot of ways to work from home and I don’t think AmeriPlan is a good option. My recommendation is Wealthy Affiliate 🙂

    Reply

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