Here are two ways to save money on health care expenses.
1. Shop for tests. If you need an expensive test that’s not covered by insurance, it might be worthwhile to compare prices among different labs and clinics. Fees can vary widely. Ask you doctor for the CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) code. If they can’t or won’t give it to you, The American Medical Association’s Web site, ama-assn.org, has an easy-to-use CPT search engine. Once you have the code, you can get price quotes from several providers.
2. Ask for cheaper drugs. Physicians don’t always know the cost of the drugs they prescribe. Ask your doctor if there is an equally effective but less expensive alternative to the medication you’re prescribed.
Hi folks at SWS,
One thing we always do is ask the pharmacist for a generic alternative to the medications we get. It has usually been our experience that the pharmacists have a more thorough understanding of what the generic alternatives are and they always have the database on their computer to cross-reference. Sometimes they have made us re-check with our Physician when the alternatives have been similar prescriptions, but we have usually found that the pharmacists have been a reliable resource for checking the more cost effective alternatives. Likewise, we also double-check to make sure we find out the chemical name for the prescription, so that when we see the name of the generic, it matches. Pharmacists and physicians are great resources, but they have been known to make mistakes every now and then as the rest of us do. Hope this comment is helpful.
Many Blessings,
Aaron