About a week ago, Republican Senate candidate Sue Lowden suggested that people should barter with health care providers to lower costs and said that in the “olden days” people paid doctors with chickens or other goods. Since then “chickens for checkups” has turned into a joke, but bartering for health care is more common than people may think. Doctors aren’t often accepting chickens, but they are accepting trade dollars through B2B barter companies and using this legitimate revenue to offset the cash outlay of business expenses in exchange for their services.

This is beneficial for both health care providers and companies who may not have the cash to provide insurance to their employees. Because doctors carry a standard overhead often including rent, utilities and salaries among other expenses, their variable costs and revenue are based on the number of patients they see. Routine check-ups cost very little, so most additional costs are incurred when they conduct procedures.

By using barter, a doctor will fill empty appointment slots with new patients who are also members of the barter exchange and can use their trade dollars as a form of payment. The heath care provider can then purchase products and services they need to run their business without having to utilize valuable cash resources.

BizXchange, for example, has within its membership healthcare services such as dentists, vision care providers, chiropractors, physical therapists and plastic surgeons that are available on trade.  And most recently it has acquired a membership based health care provider that offers coverage for preventative care, chronic disease management, urgent care and prescriptions to companies or individuals.

Bartering chickens for health care is a little far-fetched today, but finding a medical or dental provider who is a member of a barter network is fairly common.