The ColoHealth Health Wealth Newsletter
August 2019
Vol. 9, Issue 8

How to Maximize Your Benefits with these
Online Price Comparison Tools

With healthcare costs on the rise, price comparison services are more effective than ever at saving time, energy, and money.

In today’s economic climate, finding the right coverage is only part of the battle. When you actually need medical care, it can often be very difficult to get an estimate of what your medical care will cost. With wide disparities in how much providers charge for their procedures (as much as 600% in some cases), you could be greatly overpaying for your care prior to hitting your deductible.

Considering that out-of-pocket expenses hover around $300 Billion per year, chances are that there is quite a bit of money flying out of consumer’s pockets unnecessarily.

This marketplace of confusion is designed to maximize provider profits. After all, how can you possibly save money when you don’t know you are being overcharged?

It’s high time American consumers take control of their own healthcare by treating it as a buying process. You wouldn’t buy a new car without looking around for the best price, so why wouldn’t you do the same thing for a medical procedure?

Compare Healthcare Costs via Price Comparison Services

One of the easiest ways to save money on healthcare is by taking a look at medical facilities and providers across the nation to compare prices on the most commonly performed medical procedures. With the recent upswing in medical spending, multiple free services have emerged to help you with the task.

NewChoiceHealth.com

The real benefit of a service like NewChoiceHealth.Com is the ability to see side-by-side comparisons of procedure costs across the country. You can shop from over 17,000 medical facilities, ensuring fair prices when it comes time to handle the bill.

Healthcare Bluebook

There is one particularly interesting claim on Healthcare Bluebook’s website: since 2007, they’ve helped cut their users’ healthcare spending by a whopping $240.47 million. That’s a lot of cheese, and every dollar of it saved through the simple idea of treating healthcare like a shopping experience.

Use Price Disparities as a Negotiating Tool

In a recent study of over 20,000 routine appendicitis cases across the state of California, researchers discovered different hospitals were charging wildly different amounts for the same care, ranging anywhere from $1,500 to $183,000.

“Consumers should have a reasonable idea of how much their medical care will cost, but both they and the healthcare providers are often unaware of the costs,” said Renee Y. Hsia MD, assistant professor at UCSF and author of the study.

Arming yourself with the information provided by careful price comparison is a great way to increase your negotiating power with your care provider.

Keep a Close Eye on Your Medical Bills

It’s no secret the cost of healthcare is going up. As more and more people enroll in insurance plans with high deductibles, out-of-pocket costs are higher than they have ever been. But that’s not the only reason Americans are spending more.

According to a 2014 NerdWallet report, nearly 50% of Medicare medical claims contain billing errors. That’s kind of a lot. This means out of every two bills you receive, at least one of them is going to have a charge you might not actually owe.

Paying close attention to medical bills is a free and easy way to maximize your own benefits by making sure they are not being drained due to over payment.

Tip: If you think you might be the victim of billing errors, or if you would like some help negotiating your bill, ColoHealth clients are qualified for our free medical bill negotiation service.

Get a Discount… By Simply Asking for One

One of the most surprising pieces of advice that can be offered on the subject of cutting healthcare costs is to secure discounts the old fashioned way–by simply asking for one.

While it may seem counter intuitive, most providers have quite a bit of wiggle room in what they have to charge for many of the most common procedures. Asking for a discount might not feel like the most comfortable thing to do, but you might just be surprised with the results.

Over time, even small discounts can add up to significant savings, allowing your benefits to stretch even further.

Take Advantage of a Comprehensive Policy Review

Securing the best benefits possible is not a one-time thing, but rather an ongoing task that needs annual attention. Evaluating your coverage on a regular basis prevents you on missing out on new coverage options and valuable tax credits.

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Navigating the realm of healthcare coverage may seem intimidating. Staying vigilant about provider costs is just as important as finding the right plan for you. While working with a dedicated professional is no doubt the most effective way to take the hassle out of Medicare, the key to truly maximizing benefits and coverage is by treating the process as a buying experience.

The true value of consumer-driven healthcare is that it puts the reins in your hands. What good is that if you’re not going to pick them up and drive?

To your health and wealth,

Wiley P. Long, III
President – Colohealth

The Colohealth Health & Wealth Newsletter is published monthly and emailed to subscribers at no charge. Subscribe now to stay on top of the critical information you need to know about health insurance, healthshare plans and managing your finances to achieve financial security.