This year there has been a lot of advice written by consumers, financial analysts, health industry experts, bloggers and even physicians, on how to lower your medical bills.  All the advice suggests that consumers should try to negotiate prices with providers for discounts.   Yesterday I worked up the courage to try out my negotiating skills with a pediatric specialist.  First of all, it was surprisingly easy and I definitely got the impression the office manager was asked this question enough that she had a prepared response.  

A survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found only 31 percent of Americans have tried to negotiate the price of medical bills.  Of those consumers who tried, 93 percent have been successful at least once and more than a third saved over $100.  If you are insured with a high-deductible, uninsured, or under-insured, or looking out-of-network for services, you should ask the provider for a discount.   A physician I talked to from Mount Sinai Hospital suggested patients should offer to pay the provider the amount that Medicare reimburses and start negotiating from that amount.

I have a high-deductible health plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield.  This year my family was blessed once again with good health and we never got close to meeting our deductible.   During the last week of December, I scheduled an appointment with a pediatric specialist for a non-urgent consultation with my daughter.  This specialist came highly recommended and is out-of-network, and charges high rates for consultations -- a perfect opportunity for me to ask for a discount.  Before we saw the physician, I talked to the office manager and offered to pay cash for services even though I had health insurance.  The regular fee for a consultation is over $100 and they offered to charge only $50 for the office visit if I paid cash.  This is a great deal!  Benefits to the provider: they would not be submitting a claim to my insurance company for this service, they would not have to send me a bill for the office visit and they receive payment upfront.  Benefits to the consumers:  I saved more than 50% by writing a check at the time of visit.  Not a bad deal and for your new years resolution I recommend you try this out in 2008.

Happy New Year!