If you're like most people and are not rich a medical emergency could soon end up becoming a financial disaster. Even routine visits to your physician or procedures and lab tests can quickly place a large, growing financial burden on you and drain your financial resources. No one wants to go and have to open up the mailbox after a medical emergency for months. You never know what's going to be lurking in there and how big the bills will be and who they're coming from and how many there will be or when they will eventually stop coming.
You know it's funny with medical bills is that when doctors or their medical office assistants make mistakes they never, ever make them in your favor. They are always in their favor and they can be quite huge. This is why it pays to first of all always be critical and do your due diligence with any and all medical bills. Just like with credit reports it has been announced before Congress and it is common knowledge that medical bills also have a very high error rate. This means that thousands or even millions of people are paying way too much for their medical care. Some of it is an honest error, but many times it is also the result of devious behavior on behalf of the doctor or the medical company in question.
Now more than ever in history are more doctors and medical related companies being fined, arrested and charged with all sorts of medical billing fraud, Medicare fraud, etc. just like a lawyer can be disbarred for wrongful behavior with their clients and their clients funds, so can a doctor lose their medical license or be suspended or reprimanded for purposeful wrongful billing practices and other egregious behavior. So it would be wise and behoove you to always check things out and make sure they're correct. I myself in a family of five routinely find errors in medical bills at least twice a year and the average amount of the errors is around $500 per year. So by thoroughly checking through all of my families medical bills I save on average $500 per year – but that's not all that I save.
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Another way to save big on your medical expenses is to offer to pay cash for all bills, but never when the related services are rendered. Always call the billing office or the billing contact number that is provided with the bills a week or so after you receive it and ask if they give a discount for paying cash. Almost every medical billing office and medical related company will give you a 25% or so discount on the amount due if you pay it in full within a certain time frame which might be two weeks or so. If you have the money to do that you can knock 25% off your bill rate there. If you can do this with all your bills that can add up fast to some really big savings.
Why do medical offices and doctors and hospitals offer 25% off of your bill if you pay cash? Because remember the saying one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? While they know that a certain percentage of bills will never get paid or will end up going to collections beyond a certain time frame. If they can get your bill paid in full they are much better off. If it had to go to collections they would receive far less or maybe even nothing at all. They always will take cash and prefer bills to be paid off so they will give you on average 25% off of your bill. And this applies to emergency room visits, doctors visits, laboratory reports, tests, x-rays, etc. if you don't do this and asked for 25% off you will pay too much for her medical care. Now is important to note this may not apply if you have health insurance and have minimal bills that are your remaining portion to pay. It also will not work as well on small bills like those under $100.
Another problem with medical bills is that they will not hesitate to put them on your credit if you let them remain unpaid for too long. This is why it's best to call the billing department within a week or so of receiving the bills in trying work out a cash payoff where in you receive a 25% off discount. If you cannot pay in full that's fine, work out a payment plan but keep in mind you won't be getting a discount likely for that. But you will keep your credit from having derogatory reports entered on it. This is important because negative entries for unpaid medical bills and late payments can seriously ding your credit score and your ability to both obtain credit and even get a decent paying job as many employers now routinely check your credit report before making a hiring decision and sometimes even before making a promotion decision.
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Another tip with medical bills is very similar to buying a car. Shop around. You wouldn't buy a car from the first car dealer that you see and pay the full MSRP or retail price on a car, would you? Well it's the exact same in the medical field. There is no regulation except for with insurance and Medicare as to what exactly doctors can charge for different services. And if it's a service is not covered under your insurance then you can be sure that there'll be a wide range in prices and that doesn't necessarily mean the more you pay the better the service you get. When I was looking into getting laser eye surgery I found a wide range in prices from $400 to $5000 per eye for the same exact surgery. Obviously the higher priced ones were doctors located very expensive shopping centers and that are serious moneymaking rackets.
One local eye surgery center that I want to I ended up parking next to the doctors $400,000 Ferrari – and then when I went in and they told me the cost it was no surprise that it was the highest I had seen. They also had it set up like an assembly line and were getting people in and out as fast as they could. It was purely about making as much money as they possibly could and not about proper patient care nor about having the best results or service. I ended up going with a doctor that was not the lowest priced but reasonable at around $1000 per eye and this Dr. did everything and spent the most time with me and maybe the most comfortable and most importantly gave me great results. So it pays to shop around.
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This also applies with hospitals as here in Charlotte North Carolina we have two main hospital groups – Presbyterian Hospital and CMC. If you don't have health insurance do not bother going to Presbyterian and even if you do be very wary of it. They will charge as much with your insurance as you would pay at CMC for the same procedures without health insurance. If you were to research or Google the doctors, hospitals, etc. but you're planning on using before you use them you will find a lot on how much you may be charged and which ones are better or worse. You can also go look up the CEOs pay and other top executives and see if it is way out of line. This is a good indicator if you're going to be overcharged and overbilled.
Now you know several tips on how to save on your medical care costs, keep your credit in line and take some of the worry out of hospital and doctors visits and emergency situations. And maybe in the near future here Congress and Pres. Obama will revamp the health care system and make it more affordable for everyone. Maybe they'll come up with a health care plan like they have in Canada or Great Britain where everyone is automatically insured covered or health care is free. That would be very interesting. I don't know how they would pull it off though and how they would pay for with increased taxes on the consumer or on businesses or tariffs, etc. All I know is is that health care costs have been rising at an astronomical rate and more and more people every year cannot afford proper health care. Hopefully this will be changed in the near future in a beneficial way for everyone. Until then please use these tips and your common sense to save as much money as you can on your medical bills.