With growing numbers of people looking for healthcare solutions in these tough economic times, insurers are starting to offer low-cost options for those who can't afford full insurance.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida recently entered a market previously occupied mostly by fringe companies: discount cards. It's not insurance, but the program boasts it can offer discounts of 5 to 40 percent for those providers who take the card.

Blue Cross, as well as several others, also now offer limited-benefit insurance, which generally helps pay for routine medical care but not for catastrophic problems.

For some these work fine. Nancy Wittyngham, a mother of three in Weston, says ProMedical Plan, a discount insurance, does "very well, " offering her "good doctors." She pays about $136 a month for the family, then $10 for each visit to her obstetrician-gynecologist or the kids' pediatrician. "I'm very happy."

But the plan doesn't cover hospital costs -- a crucial gap if anyone in her family gets seriously ill.

Discount cards, too, remain somewhat problematic, even with the best brand names. When a reporter tried the offices of 10 South Florida doctors listed as providers for the FamilyBlue card, one said she accepted the card.

Two of the 10 had never heard of the card or Coverdell, the company that administers it. Two weren't sure. One was a wrong number. One phone was disconnected. Two didn't return the call. And one said if the doctor was listed, it meant they probably accepted it.

"Is there a niche for it?" asks Ron Weintraub, benefits manager for Broward County schools. "I'm sure there is a niche [for discount alternatives]. But people should be extremely aware that this is not a full healthcare plan. Of course, they're not paying the premium of a full plan either."

The FamilyBlue card costs $20 a month to get discounts on doctor visits, prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, hearing care, diabetic supplies and vitamins.

The card just became available in September, says Craig Thomas, Blue Cross's vice president of marketing. It's available statewide, but at present it's being marketed only to Miami-Dade Hispanics, many of whom are uninsured. So far, about 400 have signed up.

The FamilyBlue website suggests sample savings: A routine doctor's visit, with an average price of $99, can cost $67 with the card. Magnetic resonance imaging of the back might have a gross charge of $1,326, but FamilyBlue members could pay $704 at places that accept the card. "These are examples only, " says a Family Blue brochure. "The actual costs and savings may vary."

For hospitalizations costing more than $1,500, FamilyBlue offers to "work with the financial resources you have available to negotiate a settlement or set up a manageable payment plan."

FamilyBlue is administered by Coverdell, which has set up a network and administers discount cards under 75 names. About six million people use the card, says Kathy Lannen, Coverdell's executive vice president.

She says Coverdell is working to expand its network in South Florida with the introduction of FamilyBlue. "We always make clear that this is not insurance." People can try the card and see how it works for them, " she says. "There's a 30-day money-back guarantee. We don't force people to stay."

Discount cards have had a troubled past in Florida. From 2003 to 2005, about 1,000 complaints flowed in to state authorities about them, primarily from people who thought they were buying insurance.