9 Effective Ways to Cut Down Your Health Care Expenses
You must likely know already that medical expenses take a big chunk of your budget. However, there are ways to cut down these expenses. Continue reading to learn 9 ways to save money from health care.
Have a Health Savings Account (HSA)
With an HSA, you can deal with your current and future health care needs. This savings account begins with a verifiable insurance policy. You can get it at a premium without the need to shell out more money, unlike other insurances. From the money that you can save from premiums, you can use that to invest in an account that is tax-free.
You keep in mind how the process of HSA is. This is a good option for those who religiously set money aside for their savings, are in the pink of health, and do not need to visit doctors regularly.
Therefore, for people who find it quite hard to pay monthly bills, have an active illness or have no savings, they might have to opt for another way to save money from health care bills.
Download Apps to Compare Your Prescription Medicine
You can take advantage of the Internet more by using it to lower your prescription medication expenses. There are a lot of apps available for download that could save you on generic and prescription drugs.
Most of these apps are free to download. Nevertheless, you can opt to have the paid version that could give you more savings. One app could give you 90% savings from over a thousand famous medications by paying a monthly fee.
Utilize a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
This kind of spending account allows you to pay using pre-tax dollars to qualify for medical bills that you have to pay yourself. By having an FSA, your company will take out money from your salary for every pay period instead.
This can be an effective way to save money since it could lessen the tax you need to pay and saves you more money annually.
Nevertheless, if you choose not to avail of an FSA, you need to remember to use the money you tax defer every year. Otherwise, this money would go to waste.
Get a Consultation via Telemedicine
During this pandemic, many countries strongly emphasize the implementation of social distancing. Therefore, this is the ideal time to try a telemedicine visit. By trying telemedicine, you can consult a doctor without leaving your home using websites such as Teladoc, Doctorspring, and Amwell. You can use your smartphone, computer, or tablet to get a medical consultation.
If you do not have health insurance, a telemedicine consultation fee could range between $50 to $80 for a visit. This is great if you routinely have a follow-up health visit to your doctor since there is no need to go in person to the clinic or hospital.
Take Advantage of the Open Enrollment
Every November and December of the year, you have the chance to check out health care exchanges by accessing HealthCare.gov which is under the federal government. You are qualified for health care exchanges if you do not have health coverage from a government program such as Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, or Medicare.
If your total household income is between 100% and 400% from the poverty level, you can further save more money. It is because you could qualify for a tax credit.
If a significant life event occurred, you could qualify for special enrollment if you miss the annual enrollment time frame.
To start searching for health care exchanges on HealthCare.gov, you need the following information:
- Information about your households such as number of dependents and marital status
- Gender and age of dependents
- ZIP code
- Estimated total annual household income
Try Medical Tourism
In 2017, around 1.4 million Americans went abroad to get more affordable surgeries. Patients like these are called medical tourists.
If you consider medical tourism, make sure to check thoroughly the institutions and doctors you consider overseas. You can do this through Joint Commission International. This global health care accreditation institution can assist you in finding qualified doctors who have been mostly trained in the USA and hospitals.
Nevertheless, you need to know the possible disadvantages of medical tourism. One example is the lesser and less strict health care regulations in some countries. The legal system in a country is likely different from your country, so a malpractice case could be more complicated. Moreover, the consultation after receiving surgery will most likely be done remotely.
Use Retail Options instead of Going to the ER
A hospital’s emergency room is one of the priciest places to get health care. However, there is a cheaper alternative if you need medical attention from your doctor.
You can usually use facilities such as Nurse-in-a-box in supermarkets, drug stores, and discount stores. These facilities can provide you basic medical care through a nurse practitioner. Usually, these services are available daily for an extended period.
Another option you can consider is an urgent care facility. This kind of facility will cost you an average of $100 to $200. You can save a lot considering the amount when you go to an ER. A visit to the ER could cost more than $500.
Pay in Cash
You can try paying in cash and check out for the most affordable medical procedures that are non-emergency if you want to save more from your health care expenses.
Calling the billing department of various health care providers and inquiring about the prices in your area are involved. Before getting the procedure, you can canvas first so that you can negotiate further for the price.
Get a Billing Advocate
Roughly 8 out of 10 hospital billings could have some errors. Therefore, you could avoid wasting money from incorrect billing by hiring a medical billing advocate. You can also save time and energy disputing errors in your bill.
You can check out The Patient Advocate Foundation. It is a non-profit organization that provides services of medical billing advocates for free. Medical expenses may take a huge chunk out of your budget but you can find ways to cut it somehow by following the tips mentioned above. Health is indeed wealth; thus, you need to prepare for it before it gets worse.
