16 Jul 12 Ways to Save on Healthcare
At ClearPath Benefits we understand that employers typically have high healthcare costs. In this article, Satter offers 12 ways individuals can save on healthcare.
We all know paying for health care is a challenge, with or without insurance, amid rising copays, deductibles, and premiums. But there are ways to hold down the costs that can come in handy now, but also as the Affordable Care Act undergoes whatever transformation (or replacement) the Trump administration comes up with.
The Huffington Post reports that, despite the numerous obstacles to cutting costs on health care for individuals —insured or not — there are also numerous ways to do just that, whether it takes due diligence on the patient’s part or having conversations with doctors, hospitals and insurers — even drug companies — about price.
While such tactics may not exactly amount to haggling, negotiating skills can’t hurt, and determination and perseverance are definite assets when it comes to finding the best prices or convincing medical entities to give you a better deal.
Plenty of other sources have good suggestions for slicing medical expenses, whether for prescription drugs, doctor and dentist visits, or hospital care. In fact, here’s a look at 12 strategies and suggestions that can end up saving you beaucoup bucks for care and treatment.
12. Check the internet
You would be amazed at how many tips there are online to help you cut the cost of getting — or staying — healthy.
One of the first things you should do is to check out the internet, where you’ll find not just help from the Huffington Post but also from such prominent sources as Kiplinger, Investopedia, Money, CBS and other news stations — and checking them out can have the advantage of providing you with any new suggestions arising out of changes in the law or in the medical field itself. And definitely compare prices on the Internet for procedures and prescriptions before you do anything else.
11. Skip insurance on your prescriptions
Not all the time, and not everywhere, but you could end up getting your prescriptions filled for less money if you don’t go through your medical insurance.
Costco, Walmart, and other retailers with pharmacies often offer cut-to-the-bone prices on generics, some prescription drugs and large orders (say, a 90-day supply of something you take over an extended period). Costco will even provide home delivery, and fill your pets’ prescriptions, too.
Then there are coupons. GoodRx will compare prices for you, provide free coupons you can print out and take to the pharmacy and save, as the website says, up to 80 percent — without charging a membership fee or requiring a sign-up.
10. Talk to your doctor
And ask for samples and coupons. Especially if you’ve never taken a particular drug before, let your doctor know you want to try out a sample lest you have an adverse reaction to the medication and get stuck with 99 percent of your prescription unusable.
Pharmaceutical reps, of course, provide doctors with samples, but they often give them coupons, too, lest you suffer sticker shock in the pharmacy and walk away without filling the prescription. So ask for those too. Doctors can be more proactive about samples than coupons, but remember to ask for both. After all, it’s your money.
9. Talk directly to the drug companies
So you’ve tried to get a brand-name drug cheaper, but coupons don’t help enough and there’s no generic available (or you react badly to it). Don’t stop there; go directly to the source and ask about assistance programs the pharmaceutical company may offer.
Such programs can be need-based, but not always — sometimes it’s a matter of filling out a little paperwork to get a better deal. The Huffington Post points out dialysis drug Renvela can go for several hundred dollars, but drops to $5 a month if the patient completes a simple form.
8. Haggle
Before you go in for a procedure (assuming it’s voluntary), or when the bills start to come in, talk to both the doctors (is there ever only one?) and the hospital and ask for a discount — or a reduction in your bill for paying in cash or for paying the whole amount. Be polite, but stand your ground and negotiate for all you’re worth.
A CBS report cites Consumer Reports as having found that only 31 percent of Americans haggle with doctors over medical bills but that 93 percent of those who did were successful — with more than a third of those saving more than $100. Just make sure you’re talking with the right person in the office — the one who actually has the authority to issue those discounts. And get it in writing.
7. What about an HMO?
If you’re not devoted to your doctor, opting for an HMO can save you money — although it will limit your choices of doctors and hospitals. Still, coverage should be cheaper.
If you’re generally in good health, choosing a plan — HMO or not — that restricts your choices of doctors and hospitals can save you money. And having the flexibility to go see the top specialist in his field won’t necessarily be your top priority unless you have specific health conditions for which you really need specialized care. In that case, you might prefer to hang on to your right of choice, despite the expense.
6. Ask for estimates
Yes, just the way you would from your mechanic or plumber. Ask the doctor/hospital/etc. what the charge is for whatever it is you’re having done, whether it’s a hip replacement or a deviated septum. You will already have checked out the costs for these things on the Internet, of course, so that you have an idea of standard pricing — and if your doctor, etc. comes in substantially higher, look elsewhere.
And while you’re at it, ask whether the doctor uses balance billing. If so, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction and find a doctor who doesn’t. Otherwise, particularly if the doctor’s fees are high, you’ll find yourself paying the balance of his whole bill once the insurance company kicks in its share.
Normally the doctor and insurer reach an agreement that eliminates whatever is left over after you pay your share and the insurer pays its share. But with balance billing, whatever is left over becomes your responsibility — and you’ll be sorry, maybe even bankrupt. By the way, balance billing is actually illegal in some states under some circumstances, so check before you pay.
5. Network, network, network
Always, always ask if the doctor is in network, and if the lab where your blood work goes and the specialist he recommends and the emergency room doctor and surgeon are also in network. Of course you can’t do this if it’s a true emergency, but if you learn after the fact that you were treated by out-of-network doctors at an in-network hospital, see whether your state has any laws against, or limits on, how much those out-of-network practitioners can charge you.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, close to 70 percent of with unaffordable out-of-network medical bills were not aware that the practitioner treating them was not in their plan’s network at the time they received care.
4. Check your bill with a fine-toothed comb
Not only should you check to see whether your bill is accurate, you should also read up on medical terminology so you know whether you’re being billed for medications and procedures you actually received.
Not only do billing offices often mess up — a NerdWallet study found that 49 percent of Medicare medical claims contain medical billing errors, which results in a 26.4 percent overpayment for the care provided, but they can also get a little creative, such as billing for individual parts of a course of treatment that ought to be billed as a single charge. It adds up. And then there are coding errors, which can misclassify one treatment as another and up the charge by thousands of dollars.
3. Get a health care advocate
If you just can’t face fighting insurers or doctors’ offices, or aren’t well enough to fight your own battles, consider calling in a local professional health care advocate. They’ll know what’s correct, be able to spot errors, and can negotiate on your behalf to contest charges or lower bills.
For that matter, if you call them in ahead of time for a planned procedure or course of treatment, they can advise you about care options in your area and maybe forestall a lot of problems.
2. Go for free, not broke
Lots of places offer free flu shots and screenings for things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels — everyplace from drugstores to shopping centers, and maybe even your place of work.
Senior centers do too, but if you can’t find anything locally check out places like Costco and Sam’s Club, which do screenings for $15; that might even be cheaper than your copay at the doctor’s office.
1. Deals can make you smile
Whether you have dental insurance or not, it doesn’t cover much. So go back to #8 (Haggle) to negotiate cash prices with your dentist for major procedures, and take advantage of Living Social or Groupon vouchers to get your routine cleanings and exams with X-rays. The prices, says HuffPost, “range from $19 to $50 and are generally offered by dentists hoping to grow their practices.”
SOURCE:
Satter, M (2 June 2018) “12 ways to save on health care” [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.benefitspro.com/2017/02/07/12-ways-to-save-on-health-care?t=Consumer-Driven&page=6