Whether or not your insurance will cover something can be a tricky question to get to the bottom of if you’re not used to reading about your benefits or don’t frequently use them. That being said, even if you do use your insurance for regular doctor’s visits or prescriptions, you may not know whether or not some more obscure types of healthcare costs are covered under your insurance plan or not.
Especially if you need new treatment and aren’t sure whether or not it’ll be covered, this can make it difficult to make the right decision. Not everyone has time to spend on hold on the phone to clarify their insurance benefits either. Here are a couple of suggestions to keep in mind when it comes to using your insurance and managing other healthcare costs.
Compare your health insurance plan for the best deal.
One way to lower your healthcare costs is to take a look at your insurance plan compared to others on the market and see what your rates are like. Comparing your health insurance plan allows you to save money by seeing what certain costs, deductibles, and copays are for some of the most common medical expenses you have.
For example, if you have rheumatoid arthritis, you may need costly biologics each month in order to address your condition and treat your symptoms. One simple way to lower the financial hit you might be taking from recurring prescriptions is to see if there are other plans you’re qualified for that offer more competitive prescription rates. Although this might sound like a tedious task, it’s actually quite simple thanks to the ability to use online comparison tools that help you see what your options are. This makes it much easier to find ways to save on your health insurance plan itself, as well as any costs you regularly have.
Read up on your vision benefits—and take advantage of them each year.
Not everyone has vision insurance, but if you’re someone who does have vision insurance, it’s a good idea to actually know what your benefits contain. For example, some plans have an allowance each year that can be spent on things like contacts or eyeglasses. You may even be able to pay for Lasik eye surgery or other corrective measures beyond lenses with your insurance plan.
That being said, if you don’t know what timeframe your insurance gives you for getting new contacts or glasses, you could be losing money by not taking full advantage of your benefits. The optometrist is for more than just eye exams, so be sure you’re seeing what sorts of lens and frames deal your insurance qualifies you for the next time you visit for an eye exam.
See about other health and wellness benefits that could save you money in the long run.
Another way to save money on medical expenses over time is to mitigate the need for hospital visits. While it’s hard to guarantee that you can completely rule out a trip to the emergency room just by adopting healthy habits, many studies have shown that regular exercise and decreasing your weight can play a positive role in warding off serious health issues like diabetes and heart disease.
If you’ve struggled to maintain a gym membership or diet before, it can be frustrating to think about attempting to lose weight again. However, it might make sense to look into medical weight management programs that take a holistic approach to your nutrition and physical activity. Best of all, since these sorts of programs use registered dieticians and a team of other preventative health experts, it’s possible that some portion of this kind of care could be covered by your insurer.
Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.