How to Reduce Medical Expenses

If you want to save money on your medical costs, this article can help

 Steps

1. Keep a journal of your medical issues and the date of onset. Include medications, on a separate page, date you began taking them, dose and frequency, also include any side-effects you might have experienced. Make each issue separated for easier reference. Write down and include dates what you did to treat the problem and if it worked, how long the pain/relief lasted, severity of the pain, on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the worst possible pain you have ever experienced). If the issue is a physical one, like mark on skin, measure the mark and draw a picture of it in the journal so you can keep track of its progress.
2. Document your discussion.The next time you see the doctor, for whatever reason, the issues should be brought up, you should document the diagnosis and treatment plan with the date. If need be, ask the doctor to spell what he is telling you, this way the plan of action is documented .
3. Ask for more time. When making the appointment with the doctor, let them know that you have lots to discuss with the doctor and to give you a longer time-slot. This shouldn’t require bigger co-pay, but does give them a heads-up for scheduling, so you can be sure to get all of the issues at hand discussed.
4. Review the journal before the appointment to ensure that you are ready to discuss everything needed.
5. Ask for samples. During you time with the doctor, tell him if any medications you take may need refilling soon, and ask if they have samples. In most cases they have samples of your medication.
6. Get a lab slip. When scheduling a well check-up that requires labs, have the doctor’s office send you the lab slip so you can go in the week before to have the lab drawn. When you see the doctor the results will be in your chart.

Tips

• At each doctor visit, especially when visiting the ER or seeing a new provider, bring in all prescribed medications, herbal supplements, and even the vitamins, that you are taking. Bring in the actual bottles. This will help the medical staff to ensure you actually need everything you are taking; it will also help them prevent drug-to-drug or drug-to-supplement adverse interactions.

Warnings

• Be sure to seek treatment for any life threatening issue.

Things You'll Need

• Medium size journal