Okay, so today I wanted to talk about health care. Not the proposed changes in Congress right now. I want to talk about a website that I found that can help you save money, which helps us all, no matter what side of health care reform you fall on.
This website, called Healthcare Blue Book, is a free service that provides fair price information to people for services or products for patients that pay with cash. The amount is what many health care providers accept from insurance companies as “payment in full”.
People generally can’t figure out how much services cost anyway, since it’s not like doctors make a habit of publishing their price list (which in my opinion is the REAL crime. Incidentally, my doctor actually does do that…he’s pretty awesome!). And if they do publish it, it’s the “billed charges” amount, which is higher than the amount they accept from insurance companies. Read more about this here.
Basically, you go to this website, type in a product or a procedure that you need, along with your zip code, and it will tell you the reasonable price you should pay for that service in your area. Although this website is mainly for people who need to pay for their health care with cash, it is also a good way to be sure that your health care provider isn’t over-charging your insurance company. Now, you might want to sit there and say “who cares if the insurance company is paying too much”, but if they are paying too much, they will make up that money somewhere, and it will probably (eventually) come out of your pocket!
So, go to the website. Spend a few minutes taking it on a “test drive”. Bookmark the page. Hopefully, you won’t ever need it, but Jerrill and I believe in being prepared (those of you who read our posts often know this about us), and you should too!
Tags: Budgeting, Healthcare, saving money
