I used to have group health insurance where I work, but there is no way I can work for 72 hours and attending college full-time to keep my group insurance policy. I just found out it is very difficult to get individual coverage through major health insurace companies even I am 36 and healthy. I have been denied from four different companies. Later discovered that my medical information bureau report contains false misleading information for treatment of a blood clot in my leg(saying that I had surgery which I never did go through surgery)and three misdiagnoses on my report. Represerntaive ...

3 Years ago I was living and working in LA when two things happened: 1. I was diagnosed at UCLA Medical Center with MS and 2. I had brain surgery to relieve my congenital hydrocephalus, again at UCLA. The symptoms I had with my MS were thought to be related to my hydrocephalus, but alas, it was indeed an MS diagnosis. Needless to say, being 3,000 miles from home, my mother badgered me into moving back to the great state of Tennessee. I took a job with a large health care conglomerate in East Tennessee. I should have Cadillac health insurance, right? HA! My company, ...

Never pay a bill without first reconciling it to your EOB and also knowing what should be covered. I am the detailed oriented person of the house and so it was out of the ordinary for my husband to have paid a bill for a routine physical without telling me. As it turns out the billing was submitted incorectly from the doctor to my insurance company and what shoud have been a $20 payment was over $200. I'm still calling the doctor weekly waiting for them to submit the correct information but they've sent it to audit ...

One of my twin girls has Amblyopia or “Lazy Eye” as it is called in lay terms. The Lion’s Club noticed the condition during a routine screening at her daycare when she was four years old. We were told we really needed to take her for a full eye exam. So we did. Now my twin girls are admittedly shy. They did not talk easily to adults at that age. We took her to my ophthalmologist from when I was a kid and whom I had seen to that day. He found nothing wrong with her vision, but he had a ...

My wife has a background in insurance, so naturally she got to take care of the health insurance. When it got to be my turn, I did not know what to do with the EOBs and their THIS IS NOT A BILL. I stacked them up until I felt it was safe and I needed the space on the desk, and then I threw them in the recycling. Now I know better.

I used to think that prescriptions cost the same amount regardless of where they were purchased. Of course, I thought that because my health plan trained me that the cost of the prescription was the co-pay. So regardless of where I purchased my son’s monthly prescription for Singulair it cost me $50. I was enlightened of the fact that the costs of prescriptions do in fact vary by talking with friends. It seems like a lot of the “truth” about healthcare comes from peers via word of mouth. Once I learned that the cost difference ...

I saved $348 ($28 x each month) on one prescription by simply walking next door to the grocery store's pharmacy and move my Rx from Walgreens. I feel so stupid for not even thinking that prescriptions might be priced differently from one place to another. BTW, I used the same insurance at both places! So it has nothing to do switching from Brand to Generic or some other obvious "savings" scheme. It was just changing who my pharmacy was. OH and the grocery store offered FREE 30 day supply of 7 different generics (we use 3) so that is another $50. ...

Using a high deductible health plan really has made me more considerate of my healthcare costs. I recently moved to Nashville and do not have an ophthalmologist here. A few weekends ago I was having problems with my left eye and called my doctor at home who advised me to be seen. Instead of taking a new patient office visit, for what turned out to be an overly swollen stye, I went to Value Vision. The doctor was great, advised me appropriately, and it only cost $25. I didn’t even need to file it with my ...

Understanding when pre-authorization is necessary (and who will make the phone call) is critical for saving money. When my son was born, the insurance company required pre-authorization for the delivery hospital visit. My doctor's office staff asssured me they would "handle" the authorization phone call when I went into labor. After delivery I decided to call the insurance company and double check since the authorization had to be completed within 24 hours of admission and it was the weekend. I am so glad I did! No phone calls had been made and the deadline was near the end. That single phone ...