5 tips for saving on your Medical Bills

Here are suggestions to go about it.

Negotiate the cost. It's not just insurance companies that can negotiate. The typical insurer gets about a 60 percent discount. If you go into the hospital and ask the chief financial officer, you may get a 30 percent discount, but you have to ask for it. It's totally up to the discretion of the CFO how much they or the person in the billing office are willing to give you.

Only 31 percent of Americans have tried to negotiate the price of medical bills. But of those who tried, 93 percent have been successful at least once, and more than a third saved over $100.

Ask about low-cost treatments. Many doctors incurred large loans to finance medical school and probably understand the need to get a fair price as well as you do. While almost 80 percent of physicians will prescribe a generic medication over a brand-name drug to save patients money, far fewer consider patient costs when recommending diagnostic tests or choosing between hospitalization and outpatient treatment. If money is an issue, you need to ask your doctor if inexespensive, medically sound options are available. The trick is to keep it friendly and ask nicely. For minor health ailments like ear infections or pinkeye, drugstore clinics list reasonable prices upfront, with no negotiating required.

Find the best person to discuss your options with. Although they are heavily involved in treatment decisions, doctors may not be directly involved in other billing issues, so you need to find a person with the ability to adjust your bill. A good suggestion is go to the office manager. Office managers have negotiated hospital bills on behalf of patients skeptical about getting the best price. The office manager should be able to direct you to the person in charge of billing.

Offer cash payments. This could be a mutually beneficially solution for you and the medical establishment. Paying cash is worth a lot to a doctor in terms of time and trouble, and it is a lot less complex for the hospital to deal with, as it saves hospitals the trouble of negotiating financing terms, paying credit card transaction fees, and sending collection agencies after patients who fail to pay.

Scrutinize the bill and your insurance coverage. If you don't have the cash to pay a large medical bill, you need to educate yourself about what your insurance should cover and try to negotiate a discount off the sticker price. As a consumer, just like a detective, you have to really understand the specifics of your insurance benefit plan, take the initiative of setting up conference calls [including yourself, the hospital, and your insurance company] proactively, and you have to document everything, you don't just pay the bill as is.

Medical Bills Relief