Saving Money On Healthcare

In today’s economy everyone is looking for ways to save money. Health care is a major expense for all of us—both in the cost of medical insurance and in out of pocket costs for families. Here are some tips for making your health dollar go farther:

Prescriptions : Check on the cost of your prescription before ordering it. Did you know that several pharmacies (Kroger, Wal-mart, Walgreens) offer the several common antibiotics we prescribe for children for $4? And did you know that Publix gives Amoxil (amoxicillin), Cipro, Bactrim (sulfa), Keflex (cephalexin), doxycycline, and penicillin for FREE. And Costco pharmacy is available to everyone—not just Costco members. Call your pharmacy and ask what they would charge for a prescription with and without your insurance card. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy it for the $4 price rather than pay the $10 or $20 co-pay through your insurance company. This also applies to medications which adults take on a routine basis, such as blood pressure medication. If the medication comes in a generic form, quite often it is cheaper to buy it at a local pharmacy and pay cash rather than sending it through the mail order with your insurance, as there is usually a set charge for 90 days regardless of what it costs the insurance company. Call and compare!
Generics: Always ask the doctor if the medication that is being prescribed comes in a generic form. Generics are cheaper than the name brand, and in almost all cases are very adequate. If the drug does not come in a generic form, ask the doctor if there is something that could be substituted that comes in generic. If the generic medication (for children) doesn’t taste as good as the name brand, ask the pharmacist to add some flavor (which most will do for $1-$2).
Vaccines: If your child’s vaccines are not covered by your insurance or you do not have health insurance, your child may be eligible to receive vaccines provided through the VFC (Vaccines for Children) program. This is a federally funded program that provides vaccines to doctors’ offices and health departments to be used for children who would not otherwise be able to receive vaccines. There is a small administration charge for the vaccines. (We must use vaccines from different lots for this program, so therefore we must know about your need for them before vaccines are given).
Cash discount: If you do not have health insurance or for other reasons are self paying for a visit, please be aware that we give a 15% discount off of the office visit when you pay with cash (not check), 10% if you are self paying with a credit or debit card.
Annual physicals: Some insurance companies allow a physical every calendar year, and some allow one every 365 days. Before scheduling your child’s physical, check with your insurance to insure that you will not be charged for a physical because your child’s scheduling did not meet the insurance company’s guidelines. Please be aware that we do follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines which includes requiring well checkups periodically (depending on the child’s age). If your child’s well check-up is current, we can sign forms for camp, school, medication refills, etc. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Office Visits: If you have a high deductible plan, check with your employer to see if you have a health saving account or flexible spending account that can be used for office charges. Always be prepared to pay your co-pay, as there is a billing charge if the co-pay is not paid at the time of service.
Specialist Referrals: Before going to a specialist, always check with your insurance company to be certain that the specialist is still on your plan. Just because the doctor was listed in the book doesn’t guarantee that he/she hasn’t come off your plan since the printing. And always follow the guidelines on our referral form, reminding you to call our referral specialist once you have made an appointment with a specialist to be certain that all the necessary paperwork has been done. This would also apply to expensive procedures, such as CAT scans and MRI’s.
Emergency Room and Urgent Care: Before going to the emergency room, check with us (unless it is a life threatening event). Emergency rooms are very expensive with high copays (usually over $100), and often the reason for the visit can be taken care of in our office, or in one of the CHOA’s urgent care centers if our office is closed. Please be aware that depending on your insurance plan, urgent care co-pays may be higher than the co-pay you would pay in our office. We discourage visits to adult urgent care centers and minute clinics, as they are not set up for children’s needs. Many times we can give you advice to get you through the night or week-end and save you the cost and uncertainty of care away from our office.