Quote:
Originally Posted by John1960
|
Nowadays, with the help of the telephone, yellow pages and internet, it is easy enough to find out about prices if you really WANT to.
The American Hospital Directory website lists the five different price points that ever hospital in the country seems to have for each service they offer. The website features the most popular services. The highest of the price points is used on the most naiive customers/patients who can most easily be intimidated/manipulated into paying that rediculous price.
NOBODY should think for a second that they are liable for whatever "the bill" might be in this environment. You can ALWAYS negotiate. Knowledge is power. Do your research. Note the CPT code of the service and call other providers and ask what they charge for the same CPT code.
Next, if you need to have an MRI done or some other diagnostics. Get on the computer and search for "low cost MRIs". If you have a Health Savings Account plan (HSA) with a high deductible, it is especially worthwhile to do this if the expense will be going towards your deductible. DON'T for a SECOND think that the network negotiated price will be the lowest. OFTEN you can find better rates than what the insurance company negotiated.
I found this out doing some research for some clients who got health insurance through me. Their insurer reimbursment rate , the"low negotiated discounted rate" that would be applied to the deductible if they used a PPO network provider was $1350 for a specific MRI. Doing some research for "low cost MRI's" on line I found at least three stand alone MRI centers that performed MRIs for between $250 and $600!
There is no excuse for not knowing what a doctors visit costs. If you want to find out, get on the phone and call different doctors and ask. Also ask
how much of a discount they give if you pay CASH relieving them of having to fill out any insurance claim forms.
More and more primary care doctors are doing business on a cash basis which is better for the consumer. They've lowered their prices for the full cost of the visit as compared to those that will bill the insurance company.
Last but not least. IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE, NEVER CHOOSE A CO-PAY PLAN over a Health Savings Account Plan or an old fashioned non co-pay plan with just a deductible and coinsurance as both of these eventually pay 100% of your expenses for the rest of the year after you have reached your out of pocket maximum responsibility INCLUDING covering 100 percent of your prescriptions.
Co-pay plans on the other hand in addition to having a higher monthly premium only cost you more the sicker you get. Just being on 10 prescriptions with $75 co-pays each would cost you $750 per month or $9000 per year --JUST FOR those RX CO-PAYS!
The moral of the story is NEVER choose a health plan that won't pay 100% of EVERYTHING once you pay X amount out of pocket. This means AVOID CO-PAY plans like the PLAGUE!
With the 100% BETTER VALUE NON-CO-PAY PLANS YOU KNOW IN A WORST CASE SCENARIO YOU WILL never HAVE TO PAY any more than your premiums plus your deductible (minus tax savings if you have an HSA plan)
Sadly most small business owners have been brainwashed into thinking these are the "best" plans but in actuallity they are the WORST value and the WORST protection for the money.
People need to take the emotion out of choosing a health plan and look at it as a finanancial decision which is what it is. Don't pay thousands of dollars more for a silly overpriced co-pay plan because it includes a $100 value check up after a $20 co-pay. Instead get the less expensve NON co-pay plan, pay the $100 for the visit out of the thousands of dollars of premium savings you will realize! You'll have had the check-up and will be thousands of dollars ahead of where you would have been had you picked the stupid co-pay plan.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
