Costs keep going up, but there are still several simple things you can do to protect your wallet. Here are 10 easy ways to save more money on your healthcare expenses. You’ll be amazed at how these little things can add up to huge savings!
Like most people, I bet you’re always looking for ways to save money. This post offers 10 healthcare hacks that save you big money.
I learned these tips when I worked for five years as an RN in a medical management department.
My role was to advocate on behalf of the contracted employer and their workers to save money on their healthcare expenses. That led me to spend a lot of time working with people in the insurance claims department, network contracting department, and hospital or clinic billing departments.
This is where I saw, with a little focus and effort, how you can significantly lower your expenses and put more money in your pocket.
Take a look and see how many tips will work for you!
10 Tips to Save Money on Your Healthcare Expenses
Try these tips to make your healthcare more affordable.
1 Prevention is Key
More health plans are covering at least some preventative services.
Preventative services can help detect health problems early, thus reducing overall healthcare costs now and in the long run.
So, don’t wait to get checked out!
The key though, is that most preventative labs or services are only free during a ‘wellness visit,‘ and often these appointments have a significant wait (but they are worth the wait and at the end of your visit, set up another wellness visit so you can get in annually!).
For example, depending on your age, you may have access to low or no-cost preventive services such as:
- Blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol tests
- Cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies
- Counseling on such topics as quitting smoking, losing weight, eating healthfully, treating depression, and reducing alcohol use
- Regular well-baby and well-child visits
- Routine vaccinations against diseases such as measles, polio, or meningitis
- Counseling, screening, and vaccines to ensure healthy pregnancies
- Flu shots, seasonal and travel vaccines
Self-care is an essential component of preventative care and can have a great impact on avoiding the development of chronic diseases.
If you need some help finding time to take better care of yourself, get your FREE copy of the Self-Care Starter Guide HERE!
2 Inform Yourself
The more you know about what healthcare you’ve received, the more you can prevent unnecessary charges.
Save money by preventing:
- duplicate (happens most often)
- outdated
- unnecessary
- ineffective
services from being done.
The more you know about your condition, the more you can advocate for yourself. Even duplicate copayments can add up.
Asking a few simple questions is a big step toward saving money on healthcare.
Here are the questions I found helpful to ask in my role:
- What is the best-practice treatment(s) for the diagnosis?
- What is the expected outcome with this treatment?
Additionally spend time:
- Researching best-practice treatments for a diagnosis
- Understanding the purpose and side-effects of prescriptions
- Knowing what tests you’ve had (the name and type is very important)
- Learning what outcomes your treatment should accomplish
A medical journal can help you keep track of these services.
My referral and affiliate links are below. If you click through & make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. My full disclosure can be viewed for details.
- KEEP TRACK OF YOUR DAILY WELL-BEING: Whether you suffer from chronic illness or an ongoing or lifelong condition you’ll know that every day is different and multiple factors can contribute to how you feel. There are 85 pages for daily recording of what you’re feeling in your body as well as what may be causing those feelings; diet, exercise, the weather, and other health stats (like blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate, calories, etc). Your physicians will love this book!
3 Network Knowledge
Some health plans only cover specific services where they have discount contracts with providers.
These providers form a ‘network.’ Some plans have more than one network, often called tiers, and cover different amounts in different tiers.
Service provided outside your health plan’s primary network may require a higher out-of-pocket expense or may not be covered at all.
This expense may even apply to urgent or emergent services.
Know your network. Then, use network providers as much as you are able.
One important note I’ve discovered the hard way: provider contracts don’t always follow a calendar year.
So, when you go in for an appointment, confirming the provider is still in your network before being seen that day may be worthwhile. Providers are supposed to tell you if they’ve stopped participating in your network, but that doesn’t always happen.
You may even want to consider reviewing your network provider list before traveling so you can use a network provider if emergent or urgent care is needed.
4 Benefits 101
The medical and legal language can make reading health plan documents and details confusing.
Start with these four main areas:
- Benefit Exceptions List
- Plan Summary/Fee Schedule
- In-Network Provider List
- Preventative Services
Let’s dig a little deeper into these benefit areas.
Benefit Exceptions (Exclusions) List
The exclusion list is the first place you should look when considering whether to follow through with services.
Services on this list are not covered and generally do not get covered even if you request coverage upfront or file an appeal after the denial.
You should not expect insurance to pay for any service on the exception or exclusions list.
Do not accept these services unless you know you can pay for it.
It may be comforting to note that often, things not covered under a medical plan may be covered in other areas, such as a dental or vision plan.
This is also a place where insurance companies may list trendy, experimental (but not proven effective) or outdated treatment options.
Plan Summary/Fee Schedule
This is usually a list printed as a chart and will list your co-pay per health service type, tier, or network.
In-Network Provider List
This is where the insurance provider defines who or what entities are in your main network (generally having the lowest copay).
Preventative Services
The preventative services may be on a separate section or the fee schedule, which lists covered services with more details.
If your plan does not cover a service and you have a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) you may be able to use that instead.
A HRA is an employer-funded account that reimburses employees for qualified medical expenses, like health insurance premiums or out-of-pocket costs, on a tax-free basis.
When it comes to your benefits, knowing what is and, perhaps more importantly, what is NOT a covered service is a great way to save money on your healthcare.
5 Use the Lowest Levels of Care to Save Money on Your Healthcare
Several places that provide healthcare services charge higher fees for services that are available at your primary care provider’s (PCP) office.
Examples include the:
- emergency room
- urgent care
- specialty offices
- outpatient facilities
When your need is not urgent or emergent, or a specialty service is available and of equal quality in a PCP’s office, consider choosing to receive that care from the PCP to pay the lowest fees.
This is called the lowest level of care, and seeking care at the lowest level of care is a great way to save money.
For example, if you have an ear ache, going to the emergency room will cost the most, the urgent care is less but usually not as inexpensive as going to the clinic (your PCP’s office).
The point though, is the treatment and quality of care is usually the same!
When appropriate, visiting a primary care provider can save you the most money.
Typically, this can be at least a 10–33% additional savings!
A primary care provider may be a:
- Pediatrician physician (sees children only)
- Family medicine physician
- Internal medicine physician
When I first learned how much I could have saved by going to a lower level of care, I felt a little sick (no pun intended!). I had no idea how much differences existed between the different service locations until I dealt with it in my job.
Get Perks Too!
In addition to the cost savings, getting established with a primary care provider can offer additional perks, like:
- Getting appointments at the last minute
- Prescription refills
- Access to online e-visits (where you do not have to go to the doctor’s office to get treatment or prescriptions for common ailments).
Using services at a lower level of care not only keeps care at the lowest out of pocket cost for you, it keeps costs low for the health plan too.
If employees seek medical care at the lowest level of service, it can keep health plan rates lower (or reduce the % of rate increase each year).
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6 Avoid Unnecessary High-Cost Services
Building on the previous section, if you’re not feeling well, knowing you have options other than the emergency room is important.
You can visit your local urgent care center or primary care physician for non-emergent needs.
In some cases, urgent care may have a lower out-of-pocket expense.
For example, some plans have one copay for all services provided at an urgent care center but have multiple copays if you see your primary care provider who orders lab work or x-rays.
While the emergency room (ER) is always there for serious and critical medical needs, sometimes it’s not the best choice for smaller issues.
If the need isn’t emergent, seek care from urgent care or wait to call your primary care provider in the morning.
In some health plans, non-emergent emergency room services can be denied or cost thousands of dollars more than the same care received in a doctor’s office.
Avoiding the ER can help you save time and money.
Use the lowest level of service that is safely possible. If you aren’t sure, maybe you can take advantage of the next option.
7 Use This Line
If you have a healthcare question, chances are a nurse hotline can help. Check the back of your insurance card or health plan website to see if one is available.
These services are available 24/7 and are staffed by nurses and other healthcare providers.
If you need answers outside of regular office hours, call them.
Nurse call lines have symptom management guidelines.
The call line health provider can:
- give you simple home remedies
- inform you to go to urgent care or ER
- connect you with a provider by phone
- some can help you find an in-network or lower tier provider
Typically, these decisions are made utilizing a physician-built and approved symptom triage guideline. As a result, you have an excellent way to avoid the emergency room and feel confident that it is safe to do so!
8 Use Generic Medications
This is an old one but a good one.
Even though generic medications typically contain the same ingredients as their name-brand counterparts, they usually cost much less.
These medications do not have marketing expenses so the cost savings are passed on to you.
So, if you want to save money on your next prescription, ask your doctor if a generic option is available.
9 Shop Around
You might be surprised to learn that there can be huge price variations from pharmacy to pharmacy, on both prescription drugs and the generics.
However, this doesn’t mean you must spend a lot of money to get the medication you need.
You can do a few things to get the best prescription drug price.
For example, you can compare prices by calling different pharmacies or checking their websites. An app called Good Rx and many other apps offer these cost comparisons for free or a small monthly charge.
Recently I was comparing drug prices for my mom’s prescription (an old and common drug) and noted nearly a $100 difference between the local pharmacy and the nation-wide grocery store pharmacy cost. That was just for one month!
You can also ask your doctor or pharmacist for help finding the best medication price if you’ve got time to wait.
Cost Plus Drugs and Amazon Pharmacy may carry your prescription, and may even charge less than your regular insurance copay.
The same concept is true for medical services.
For the same type of medical test, healthcare systems can have wide differences.
Information on medical service prices is more available and often online, thanks to government requirements.
If you have a 20% copay, shopping around between in-network providers may save you hundreds or thousands of dollars out of pocket.
In many cases it may be worth 15-30 minutes of your time to call around!
10 Be Compliant with Your Treatment Plan to Save Money on Your Healthcare
There are many ways to save money on healthcare costs, but it often comes down to being informed, researching, and making wise and educated choices.
The most important thing you can do is to follow your provider’s plan.
But don’t forget that your treatment plan includes proper self-care!
So, be honest with your provider about what you are and aren’t going to do.
Self-care is essential for managing chronic conditions and keeping overall healthcare costs down.
For example, if you have congestive heart failure, avoiding salt in your diet can prevent very costly inpatient hospitalization (Hospitalizations are often increased during the holiday season!) While it may seem difficult to say no to the salt, most patients regret their decisions after being admitted.
Self-care can be critical to saving money on your healthcare costs.
So be sure to sign up for our free Self-care Starter Guide below. It’s packed with tips and resources to help you get started on your journey to better health – without breaking the bank.
Don’t forget your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Get it HERE.
Which of these cost-saving tips will you try first?
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Originally published on December 6, 2022
Be sure to grab your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Lisa Kimrey is a 33-year veteran registered nurse (RN), speaker, and author of the Bible study, The Self-care Impact: Motivation and Inspiration for Wellness. At Mylifenurse, Lisa combines her nursing expertise with Scripture-based encouragement to show readers who serve and care for others how to begin and maintain their self-care journey – without feeling guilty or overwhelmed – to feel happy, healthy, and rejuvenated.