Bartering for Medical Care

[Denim Deb]

Darn!

 

[Britesea]

I remember an interesting barter organization when we lived in CA. It was a cross between true barter and a monetary system. A simple version of it might go thus:
George has apples available for barter, and wants some pork
John wants apples, and has eggs for barter.
Henry has pigs, and wants eggs.

George offers his apples to John. John gives him an agreed upon number of "barter dollars" instead of eggs. George takes his "barter dollars" to Henry and gets some pork. Henry uses the "barter dollars" he received to get eggs from John.

The barter community had people offering every type of goods you could think of, and all sorts of services like carpentry to dentist, catering to automotive work. I got a week in a mountain cabin in exchange for deep cleaning it top to bottom (which only took two of the seven days).

In addition, you could save your "barter dollars" in anticipation of the Christmas Arts and Crafts show they held every year (I got a beautiful set of slumped glass dishes this way)

The only real money that changed hands was sales taxes applicable on any item bartered (for example, the dishes I bought)

 

[Wifezilla]

A couple of people tried to start barter clubs like that. The only problem was there was a hefty signup fee, and since we could do math...

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

I've heard of bartering systems like that too, but also heard that the gobmnt is coming down on them as creating their own money (the bartering chits) so it's illegal.

Sure it's just a rumor. Right?

 

[FarmerJamie]

I remember this being done somewhere in the Midwest decades ago. It wasn't the issuing your own currency, it was accounting for those contributions to local, state, and federal folks that caused the issue, I seem to remember.

 

[Occamstazer]

The vet I worked for in Tuscaloosa tried the bartering thing with pretty limp results. The group was called Tradebank. Clients who were members would pay their bills with their Tradebank card, which gave the Doc x number of Tradebank dollars to spend at any of the participating businesses. It was an alright idea, but in practice it didn't work so well. Tradebank clients would get lots of things like Frontline that are hideously expensive to stock and tie up a lot of a practice's money and we'd never see any return. Worse, many of the participating businesses would try to weasel out of their end of the bargain. Example, when he tried to get the clinic repainted, the handyman said the labor could be paid via Tradebank but not the paint or supplies. Eventually Doc had to make a rule that Tradebank could only be used for services like exams or boarding but not for products. Naturally, that lead to the receptionist getting a lot of heat from former freeloaders. All in all, more asspain than it was worth.

 

[k0xxx]

I've heard of bartering systems like that too, but also heard that the gobmnt is coming down on them as creating their own money (the bartering chits) so it's illegal.

Sure it's just a rumor. Right?

Bartering and using what amounts to trade tokens is perfectly legal, as long as taxes are paid. The Feds did go after on very high profile operation (Norfed coins) recently, but they had actually minted coins that had things like "Twenty Dollars", "$20", "In God We Trust", that made it appear to be actual coinage. I believe that to pass the legal muster, they must indicate that they are "Good For Twenty Dollars In Trade", "Trade Unit", or something similar. I have a couple of the smaller ones that contain a fourth ounce of silver.