1) Having no dental insurance but very aware of the other potential risks, we still go 3x/yr, just as my pre-retirement employer's plan allowed. I get about a 27% discount for cash, as well as reduced 'list' pricing on a couple services for being so frequent. Still not cheap, but makes a big differences on something I'd be paying for either way.
2) Ditto on optometrist - those parts of the annual exam dealing with medical issues get billed to Medicare, balance gets billed to nobody - I pay cash, again with a discount on the typically small amount remaining due.
3) Not quite the same as a large medical bill, but while I have Part D insurance, and all my recurring prescriptions run through it (mail order), I did use GoodRX last week to reduce the price of a [hopefully] one time antibiotic from $43 insurance to $17 GoodRX. The pharmacist complimented me on using the GoodRX, though noting that insurance was telling the Pharmacy that the higher amount was going toward deductible. We'll see how this shakes out over the year: The $26 difference certainly is not make or break, so we'll see if I end up 'eating it' through the deductible later in the year. Its an assumption on my part they did not tell insurance... I may find out different in the next statement.
A question: Since I paid out of pocket, can the cash price be 'submitted' to insurance to apply toward the Deductible??
Thanks for sharing all of this! Sadly, the pay-cash (and get the cash price) vs submitting a claim (and getting credit towards your deductible) is either-or. The pay-cash approach is more compelling if you’ve got a high deductible and don’t expect to hit it. Like a lot of these work-arounds, it’s good to know about, but … limited.
How about we fix deductibles? The episode last week highlighted the HDHP but glossed over it - getting insurance to work for ppl is at the core of this…too many ppl are locked into these plans.
For sure. A first-aid kit just isn’t enough for what ails us! We need a Level 1 Trauma Center. Which isn’t to say, I hope, that a band-aid and some bacitracin here and there can’t be helpful.
Three comments:
1) Having no dental insurance but very aware of the other potential risks, we still go 3x/yr, just as my pre-retirement employer's plan allowed. I get about a 27% discount for cash, as well as reduced 'list' pricing on a couple services for being so frequent. Still not cheap, but makes a big differences on something I'd be paying for either way.
2) Ditto on optometrist - those parts of the annual exam dealing with medical issues get billed to Medicare, balance gets billed to nobody - I pay cash, again with a discount on the typically small amount remaining due.
3) Not quite the same as a large medical bill, but while I have Part D insurance, and all my recurring prescriptions run through it (mail order), I did use GoodRX last week to reduce the price of a [hopefully] one time antibiotic from $43 insurance to $17 GoodRX. The pharmacist complimented me on using the GoodRX, though noting that insurance was telling the Pharmacy that the higher amount was going toward deductible. We'll see how this shakes out over the year: The $26 difference certainly is not make or break, so we'll see if I end up 'eating it' through the deductible later in the year. Its an assumption on my part they did not tell insurance... I may find out different in the next statement.
A question: Since I paid out of pocket, can the cash price be 'submitted' to insurance to apply toward the Deductible??
Thanks for sharing all of this! Sadly, the pay-cash (and get the cash price) vs submitting a claim (and getting credit towards your deductible) is either-or. The pay-cash approach is more compelling if you’ve got a high deductible and don’t expect to hit it. Like a lot of these work-arounds, it’s good to know about, but … limited.
How about we fix deductibles? The episode last week highlighted the HDHP but glossed over it - getting insurance to work for ppl is at the core of this…too many ppl are locked into these plans.
For sure. A first-aid kit just isn’t enough for what ails us! We need a Level 1 Trauma Center. Which isn’t to say, I hope, that a band-aid and some bacitracin here and there can’t be helpful.