Editor’s note: This story was originally published here penny hoarder.
Surprising health care costs these days can be enough to sink some families financially when medical problems arise. And even if you can afford health insurance, it doesn’t cover all the costs.
This makes it difficult for you not to consider medical bills before visiting a doctor or going to the hospital. But it is very important to take care of your health. It is better to be bankrupt, alive and healthy than to die with more favorable finances.
To help, we’ve found some ways you can get the care you need without fear of a bill.
We are going to cover strategies that can help you access health care services at a lower cost. In some situations, they can help keep you debt-free.
Remember that regardless of the financial outcome, you should put your health first whenever the system allows you to — even if it means reducing some medical debt.
1. Take advantage of charity care programs
The Affordable Care Act requires nonprofit hospitals to offer charity care programs. This means that if your income is below a certain threshold, they must have funds available to help cover your bills.
The quality of these programs varies by state, but no matter where you live, the law requires these hospital systems to have some assistance available.
This is true whether you have insurance or not, and in many hospital systems, the income guidelines are much higher than you might imagine. Ask about the program and apply as soon as possible – even if you consider yourself middle-income.
organizations like for dollars This may help if you’re feeling lost in the process.
Also keep in mind that this isn’t just for the ER. While this certainly applies to that situation, if the medical provider you go to is affiliated with a non-profit hospital system, there’s a good chance they will also qualify for the Bill Financial Assistance Program.
This is especially true for urgent care facilities, as in many communities, you can often find facilities that are affiliated with the local non-profit hospital system. The same may be true of your GP or other specialist.
2. Find free or low-cost clinics
Depending on where you live, it may be Free or low-cost community clinics You can access GP services and annual checkups. These can be especially useful if you are able to schedule ahead of time.
Also keep an eye out for mobile health clinics, as these can provide screenings or health checks in communities that don’t have access to other medical care providers.
If you need something more specific, there may be a dedicated clinic for your specific concern. For example, you might look for:
- Sexual health services at Planned Parenthood (which provides services for all genders).
- Free STD/STI testing and treatment at your local CDC Clinic.
- Doctors and other health care facilities that partner with charities to offer free mammogram.
- Low cost dental care at any clinic, including your local university dental school.
tip: If you can’t find a low-cost clinic in your community, try asking your GP or specialist about uninsured rates. Some offices will bill you at the Medicaid rate, making things cheaper. Others will receive a one percent discount on the cost of services. Others won’t even take you into the office without insurance, but it’s worth asking.
3. Try to get a chip for your kids
Even if you don’t live in a Medicaid expansion state, even if you can’t buy health insurance for yourself, you can get it for your children.
Children’s Health Insurance Program Children’s health insurance offers free or sliding-scale premiums for coverage, so even if your income is low, your child should still be able to see a pediatrician and access other health services they may need.
4. Shop for larger procedures
If you need something like surgery or an MRI, shopping around can save you big money on health care costs. Get quotes (preferably in writing) from different facilities, and be sure to research the quality of care you will receive.
The weird thing is that just because a place is more expensive doesn’t mean the quality of care is better.
Not all facilities will willingly give you quotes on the cost of care, and if you need this kind of service, it’s probably not worth taking the time to fight for it. Be sure not to delay your medical care too long in the name of shopping for the best price.
Although this may be a helpful practice if you have been medically advised that you have enough time, it is not worth doing if it will delay care that could save your life or improve your health.
In such cases, look for those charity care/financial assistance programs once you get the bill.
5. Check for Medical Billing Errors
If you have received a medical bill, it is likely that it contains errors. The rate of errors is especially high if you have multiple insurance policies, such as Medicaid and Medicare, or private insurance plus TRICARE.
When you have multiple streams of health insurance coverage, there are more opportunities for the billing system to not work well together and produce medical billing errors.
I’m not going to lie to you: dealing with these errors can be an absolute nightmare. But doing so can sometimes save you thousands of dollars. Here are some strategies you can implement to deal with the mess:
- Familiarize yourself with essential coverage. If you have an ACA plan, federal law requires your plan to cover certain services each year. At least once a year, I have to call the insurer to attempt to bill me for a covered service. Take a look at your bills – I’m willing to bet I’m not alone.
- Don’t fall into the trap of balance billing. If you have Medicaid and your health care provider tries to bill you for the difference between their charges and what Medicaid pays (other than any Medicaid plan’s co-payments, if your state has them), this is called balance billing. And it is illegal. However, that doesn’t mean some health care providers won’t try it. If your child also has CHIP coverage, keep an eye on it.
- Reach out for help. It’s an uphill battle to fight against insurance companies and major health care organizations. If you need help, reach out to a patient advocacy group.
6. Buy prescription medicines
Prescription medications may be completely unaffordable, but if they are saving your life or improving your quality of life, they are worth having. If you’re having trouble affording your medicine, here are some things you can try to save money on your prescriptions:
- Get a Prescription Discount Card. If you don’t have one yourself, chances are your pharmacist will be happy to recommend one. Be sure to also ask them to handle billing in a few different ways. Sometimes, even if you have insurance, getting the drug with a prescription discount card without billing may be cheaper than having the insurer cover your portion of the bill. However, this is not always the case, so you may want to try it in several ways.
- Check out discount prescription sites. One of the biggest is Mark Cuban’s cost plus drugs. These websites allow you to order the medicine directly so that they can sell it to you without any markup, thereby reducing costs.
- Follow normal treatments – but only with your doctor’s consent. Sometimes the brand name doesn’t really matter. Sometimes it really, really happens. In cases where it doesn’t matter, going generic can save you some cash.
Don’t let health care costs be a barrier to accessing health care
This is easy to say and difficult to do. Medical bills have the real potential to bankrupt you, but your well-being is at stake.
Try to save on health care costs by using the strategies we talked about today. But if those aren’t enough to ease your medical billing worry, go ahead and get care wherever the system will allow you. Your life and health are more important than any debt that appears on the balance sheet.