7 Ways to Save Money On Health Care
Like everything in life, it is hard to stay completely sharp on every personal finance topic out there. Health care is no exception, so it is time for a refresher. Let’s spend a minute sharpening up on how you can avoid spending too much to get the help you need.
If you have health insurance there are few things you should know to get the maximum benefit. Here are the seven most important tips to help you save money on your health care.
1. Know what the plan covers. Explore the information you receive from the plan. Some plans have wellness programs that will waive co-payments for prescriptions that manage a chronic disease. Some offer discounts to health clubs. Often a health plan will offer either some coverage or a discount for eye exams and glasses.
2. Know what is applied to your health plan’s deductible. Usually, deductibles start with the first day of coverage every year. Each item covered under the deductible requires you to pay out of pocket until you’ve met the deductible. You may want to postpone costly procedures until your deductible is satisfied. Then the insurance company will pay the maximum benefit and you will have the least out of pocket expenses.
3. Know the amount of your deductible is. Keep track of all the expenses that are applied to your deductible. The insurance plan does this for you, but it is prudent for you to keep track also. Sometimes insurance companies or the health care provider make a mistake and that can cost you money.
4. Know if each family member has to meet a deductible or if the family as a whole can satisfy the deductible. If the insurance plan groups the family under one deductible, then one family member could meet the entire deductible.
5. Know about pre-certifications and do not take for granted that your doctor or hospital has taken care of them. If you are scheduled for a procedure that requires a pre-certification with your health insurance plan, both the doctor’s office personnel and the hospital’s say not to worry, they will take care of all the notifications. If they don’t, then you still have to pay. That doesn’t give them much incentive to make sure your insurance plan is notified. You, on the other hand, do have an incentive. You are responsible to pay the health care providers even if your insurance company doesn’t. To protect yourself, let the administrators have some time to pre-certify, but follow up a couple of weeks before the procedure. Just ask your health plan if they have everything they need and the pre-certification is in order for the procedure. If they don’t, then you still have time to nudge your providers to get the plan everything they need to pre-certify.
6. Know which tier your health plan assigns to each of your prescriptions. Many prescription drugs cost more than do other drugs that treat the same condition. Often, doctors prescribe a more expensive drug than is necessary. It is interesting to note that pharmceutal companies have invested lots of money to create and advertise new drugs. Those drugs may not be any better than the ones already available. Did you know that the drug companies do not have to prove that their new drug treats the problem any better than other drugs did? They just have to prove that it treats the problem. Usually the newest drugs are the most expensive and on the highest, most costly, tier of the preferred drug list. Consider an alternative prescription or a generic.
7. Check your explanation of benefits. Check that each bill from your providers’ office is charged correctly. If things don’t look right, ask questions of either the insurance company or the doctor’s office. For example, recently a doctor’s office coded an annual physical and an office visit for the same patient on the same day. The insurance company paid for the physical and denied payment for the office visit. The patient received a bill for the office visit. The patient questioned the insurance company about the denial, learned of the incorrect billing, called the doctor’s office about the mistake. The doctor’s office corrected the coding, resubmitted the claim and reversed the bill to the patient.
These seven small, but very important tips, can save you hundreds of dollars while you are receiving the health care you need. Everyone can use a refresher, and it never hurts to making sure you get the most from your healthcare dollar.