SAVE BIG

Medical costs are the fifth largest annual expense for most Americans—$3,452 per person, more than 5 percent of the average income, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The costs add up fast, what with health insurance, copay-Quality. The costs add up fast, what with health insurance, copayments, dental care, doctor visits, eyeglasses, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and supplements, plus hospital bills. The expense can be a bitter pill to swallow—so some people don’t, and they’re getting even sicker.

So how can we cut costs? I guess you could cancel all your magazine subscriptions and swipe them from your doctor’s office instead. That would be one way to save on medical expenses! Okay, okay, it was hard to come up with a Small Stuff Savings example for healthcare. But one of the most common money-saving tips is to cancel your magazine subscriptions. Monthly savings: $6.25 for somebody with three subscriptions.

Even with something sensitive like healthcare, it’s possible to cut costs. You may be thinking, healthcare costs are somebody else’s problem because you have access to the “platinum plan” through your work. Watch your bad back! Even people with work-based health insurance spend an average of $3,354 for a family plan these days, because most employers now require you to pay part of your own premium. Furthermore, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest annual survey, 40 percent of companies plan to increase the amount their workers contribute in the next few years.

Here’s the bottom line: To SAVE BIG on healthcare we need to behave like consumers instead of patients. Yes, healthcare is a business. That’s why this section is laid out in the order you usually consume healthcare—from choosing a health plan, to seeing the doctor, to filling a prescription and going to the hospital.

• Chapter 26: We begin with health insurance. If you currently have one of those health plans in which you make just a tiny copayment when you see a doctor or go to the hospital, don’t be smug. You are probably wasting thousands of dollars a year. I’ll show you two cheaper ways: higher deductibles and paying as you go. Uninsured? We’ll unearth surprising sources of coverage.

• Chapter 27: I’ll teach you how to negotiate with your doctor, politely and professionally, and get as much as half off of your bill. If you’re willing to tell your doctor about your arm and your leg, but not that he is charging you an arm and a leg, then you’re going to need a cast—for your wallet. Negotiating is not that hard when you learn where to find comparative costs.

• Chapter 28: Prescription drugs come next. When you get a prescription, do you head straight to the nearest pharmacy to fill it so you can start feeling better? Don’t! I uncover more than $20,000 worth of savings achieved through going generic, switching meds, pill splitting, shopping around, and more. There are even programs that provide medications at no cost.

• Chapter 29: Experts say 80 percent of hospital bills contain inaccuracies. This is where you really need to cure high costs. Have you ever compared your hospital bill to your hospital record to find overcharges? You should. Better yet, get an expert to do it for you—for free. I’ll tell you how to find help before or after you’re hospitalized and even cut your costs in half.