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Healthcare Costs Solutions |
There are some things you can do about your ridiculous medical bills. Here are some helpful tips.
Screening vs. diagnostic exam
You need to pay attention to how your doctor visits are coded by the office. When you set up a simple health screening-- something you know is paid for by your health plan-- you don't expect to get a more expensive procedure at your doctor's office. But sometimes if the doctor does just a little more work, you can get a huge, unexpected bill.
One patient says coding cost her about $1000 in unexpected medical bills. Her OB-GYN had suggested a simple colonoscopy screening. It would be almost entirely paid for by her health plan.
"I had checked with the insurance company. I had a written response from them, that it's a $30 co-pay."
The patient says the procedure lasted 20 minutes. Her doctor found one polyp which he removed. The patient remembered giving her doctor authorization to do that, assuming it would all be part of the $30 co-pay screening-- then came the surprise.
"I got a bill for hospital charges for over a thousand dollars."
Remember that little polyp? When the doctor removed it, the patient says he re-coded her screening to a diagnostic procedure-- an out-patient surgery!
"The insurance company told me they would change it to a screening if the doctor re-coded it. The doctor said it's against the law for him to re-code it."
Raising your deductible
Should you pay a higher health insurance premium and have a lower deductible? Or risk paying more out of pocket in order to keep premiums lower?
Another recommendation with a high deductible is setting a high level of co-insurance, the percentage of costs the insurance will pay for after the deductible is met.
"I pay $971 a month for healthcare. It's a high co-pay. You spend one night in the hospital it's a $2000 co-pay."
Health insurance cancellation
Some people learn their health insurance has been cancelled right when they need it most: when they have major medical expenses. Insurance companies can do this to individual policy holders (not part of a group plan) if the company finds an intentional misstatement the original application. There are ways to reduce the chances this will happen to you. And if it does happen, it’s important to know your options.
read the full story and see the videos at az central.
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