Despite recent legislation are you needing to reduce health care expenses? If you are like the majority of people the answer to that is yes. No matter how someone has gotten their health insurance chances are the costs are higher than they should be or how we want them to be. Due to this chances are good that every consumer of health care is paying a higher percentage of their health care expenses. Premiums and out of pocket expenses seem to be going up every year with no end in sight. But there are some steps that can be taken to reduce out of pocket expenses associated with health care and health insurance. Some may seem obvious and others not so much but taken together they can save you some of your hard earned money.
One step that can be taken to keep out of pocket expenses lower is to stay in the plan’s network of doctors and hospitals despite the fact these networks are shrinking. According to health care experts going outside of your plan’s network may be the single costliest mistake that an insured person can make. In some plans there is no out of network option or the co-pay is raised substantially. But in today’s world of insurance many plans are saying no out network options except emergencies. And an outside provider is not bound to charge plan prices and can set them how they determine and your policy will only pay the predetermined amount leaving the insured to cover the difference. In the case of a planned surgery it is best to make sure all parties are within the policy’s plan as not everyone involved may be in the network. Always check to make sure. Check to see if your insurance plan even has super-preferred providers which are care providers who display excellence in service and a commitment to reducing costs.
Shop around for the best prices as not all facilities charge the same prices. When it comes to radiology depending on where you have your test can have vast differences in prices that you will be required to pay. On average an MRI or CAT scan can be between $1,300 and $1,650 at an outpatient clinic or hospital. The same tests can be as low as $450 to $725 at a radiology center that is independent. When it comes to radiology it does pay to shop around and in many instances your insurance provider may offer assistance in locating the best prices. The same can be done for clinics and hospitals as not all charge the same price. If your doctor is a member or associated with one or more hospitals it may pay to ask them what one has the best prices for their part of the procedures. While the doctor’s fee will generally be the same regardless of where you are seen or have the procedure done the center or hospital can charge vastly different fees.
If at all possible avoid the emergency room. In some instances it may be advisable to visit an urgent care facility or a walk-in clinic instead of making a visit to the emergency room. For minor illnesses or injuries it is much cheaper to visit one of these types of places as compared to an emergency room. On average an emergency room visit will run about $1,500 while an urgent care clinic is about $125 and a walk-in clinic can be as low as $55 in many instances. So depending on what is the health issue let that help guide you in where you will go for your health care. In some instances the emergency room is the best bet but for some things a clinic will work just fine.
Similar to where you get your health care is what types of prescriptions you get. When it comes to prescription drugs if the option is available go with a generic formula over the name brand drug. In many instances the use of generic prescriptions can save you 80% or more in costs. And when you are able to purchase generic over name brand the co-pay is generally less as well. Keep an eye out for when name brand drugs have the patent expire and generic ones can start production as this is always happening. Most of the time your insurance company will make the switch for you or even ban the use of name brand prescriptions but that is not always the case. And shop around as not all drugstores will charge the same price for the same medicine. And sometimes the insurance company will offer mail order prescriptions that are much cheaper than your local store so check with the insurance company to see if they do indeed have a cheaper service.
Another way that will enable you to save some money is through the use of a flexible spending account. If your employer offers a FSA it is wise to take advantage of them as they can save money in two ways. The first it will reduce your income taxes by the amount you contribute to the FSA. This means if you were to contribute $2,500 to a FSA it would reduce your income taxes by that same amount. The drawback in this is if you do not use all the funds you put into the FSA on an annual basis the funds will be lost. And in the past any FSA money could be used on non-prescription drugs so get your physician to write a prescription for over the counter drugs to be able to get the advantages of the FSA.
Look into these steps and try to reduce your health care expense. There are many other ways to achieve lower costs but these were some of the more common and some of the ones that are available to more people. As healthcare is always changing so keep up with the changes and that will enable you to stay on top of your health care expenses.
