How to Save on Healthcare Costs

🔍 Deep Dive: How to Save on Healthcare Costs

1️⃣ Use Prescription Discount Tools

Prescription prices can vary by 80% or more between pharmacies.

Here’s how it works on the back-end:

• Prescription drugs are produced by a manufacturer.

• The manufacturer sells them to a distributor.

• Pharmacies buy from distributors. They negotiate the purchase price.

• This impacts the price you pay, whether you’re using insurance or not.

What does this mean? You could buy the same prescription at two different pharmacies and pay wildly different prices. A $150 prescription at Walgreens could be $30 at CVS.

Always use a service like GoodRx, SingleCare, or RxSaver.

They’ll show you the price of prescriptions across multiple pharmacies and provide coupons that can dramatically reduce prescription costs.

2️⃣ Always Request an Itemized Bill

Up to 80% of medical bills have errors. It’s common to see duplicate charges, charges for services you didn’t receive, and incorrect quantities.

And those errors can amount to a lot. One Equifax study found that hospital bills that totaled more than $10,000 contained an average error of $1,300.

Requesting an itemized bill is the best way to catch these errors. An itemized bill shows each individual charge, line by line.

Here’s what to look for:

• Any service you don’t recognize

• Medications you didn’t take

• Supplies you didn’t receive

• Multiple charges for the same procedure

• Generic items charged at name-brand prices

• Charges for services insurance should’ve covered

• Services billed at the wrong rate (i.e. private room when you had a shared room)

3️⃣ Negotiate Your Medical Bills

Medical bills are almost always negotiable, especially if you’re uninsured or facing bills you can’t afford. Hospitals would rather receive some payment than none.

When to negotiate:

• Large unexpected bills

• After insurance denial

• Facing financial hardship

• Before bills go to collections

Negotiation strategies to try:

1. Ask for cash discounts. Many providers offer 10-30% discounts for immediate payment in full.

2. Request financial assistance. You might qualify for significant discounts based on income.

3. Challenge the bill amount. Research the fair market rate for your procedure on FAIR Health. Use that number as leverage to negotiate a discount on your bill.

4️⃣ Shop Around for Procedures

The same procedure can cost 10x more at one facility than another, even in the same city with the same insurance.

You should shop around for the following procedures:

• Imaging (MRI, CT scans, X-rays)

• Lab work

• Physical therapy

• Routine procedures (ie. mammogram, colonoscopy, etc.)

Questions to ask:

• Can you give me an estimate of the total cost for this procedure with my insurance?

• What is the self-pay rate for this procedure? (sometimes cheaper than the insurance rate)

• What is included in this price? (avoid surprise fees)

Put It Into Practice

Here’s this week’s to-do list:

1. Download the GoodRx app.

2. If you have any outstanding medical bills, call and negotiate them.

3. If you have any planned medical procedures coming up, call at least three facilities to compare total costs before scheduling.

💵 Budget Breakdown: Renting Out a Room

Would you rent out a room in your house or apartment to make extra money? Chi Yan says it’s a great option to get ahead on your finances.

Pros? It can earn you quite a bit. Like $1,000 per month for each room you rent out.

Cons? You’d have strangers living in your home. And you lose a little bit of privacy because of that.

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