The Insurance Expert Who Dropped Her Own Insurance

In the early founding days of ionava our Founder/CEO, Azar, was working weeks of 18 hour days when the unexpected happened.

One morning the world went soft at the edges.

Cataracts.

As she put it: "I did not see that one coming—pun fully intended."

"If you go through insurance, we’re limited to the old lenses"

So she asked what the surgery costs for cataracts.

About $10,000.

Then the surgeon said something that shocked her.

"If you go through insurance, we’re limited to the old lenses. The good ones—the cutting-edge lenses—aren’t covered."

She then did the math.

She’d been paying $930 a month for her health insurance. More than $11,000 a year. And now that she needed her insurance to be there for her, all she would be getting was (as she describes it) “the metal-braces version of my own eyeballs."

The cutting-edge lenses—the ones that would actually give her the best shot at seeing clearly for the rest of her life—weren’t covered by her insurance. Not because they didn’t exist. Because someone else had decided they weren’t approved.

So she paid cash instead. And here’s what cash actually bought her.

• The best lenses: the cutting-edge ones insurance wouldn’t cover.
• Both eyes at once, instead of one and then the other months later (insurance didn’t cover both eyes being done at once), which also saved her money on anesthesia and valuable time.
• An earlier surgery date, because cash patients are welcome, not waitlisted.
• One of the top cataract surgeons in Beverly Hills.

She paid the down payment for her surgery in cash with her ionava Wallet. And the rest she put on a zero interest finance plan - 0% interest for 2 years with small regular monthly payments.

She didn't even have to front the $10,000 expense at once!

Despite having this fairly serious unexpected health event, she still came out ahead versus the $20k+ she would have paid for her insurance ($11k yearly) + a $10k deductible and Max Out of Pocket expense for restricted care with out of date medical technology and numerous other gotchas.

What "covered" was actually buying

This is the part she is constantly reminded about within the traditional healthcare system.

"‘Covered’ is doing a lot of quiet work in that sentence. It doesn’t always mean taken care of. Sometimes it just means limited to what someone else decided you’re allowed to have."

Widen the lens (pun still intended) and it’s the same pattern she spent 21 years watching from the other side of the table. Covered on paper. Limited in practice. The surprise bill. The narrow network. The care that takes eighteen months to approve and tenacious time to make it happen.

She had funded insurance faithfully, every year, for decades. And when the moment came, "covered" wasn’t buying her the outcome she’d have chosen. It was buying her permission—and restriction.

"I’m not anti-insurance. I spent my career inside it. But a lot of us are paying a fortune to feel safe and never checking what safe actually buys."

That question—what does safe actually buy—is the one she built ionava to answer differently.

ionava is not insurance. It’s a financial platform designed around your health and wellness. The difference that matters here: you keep ownership of your money. It doesn’t disappear into premiums every month and build toward nothing.

So, what is your current “covered” actually buying you?

You don’t need cataracts to ask yourself the same question.

If you’re healthy, if you rarely use the plan you fund every single month, there’s a good chance you’re already paying cash for most of what actually keeps you well.

Here’s a great next step: Get your Health Score

It tells you whether ionava is a fit for you, and your subscription price for every Vault size. If you decide to reserve a Vault, your price never increases as long as you’re a member.

Azar checked what safe was buying her. You can too.

Next time you’re at your pharmacy, dentist, or PCP ask what your cash prices would be. You may be surprised (And report back! We would love to hear your discoveries!)

Got questions? Reach out to our team at support@ionava.com or join us at one of our Ask us anything virtual calls.