In this era of rising healthcare costs, medical expenses can take a healthy bite out of your wallet.<\/p>\n
From maintaining a healthy lifestyle and quitting bad habits to switching to generic prescriptions, here are 5 ways you can curb rising healthcare costs.<\/p>\n
The best way to keep those high out-of-pocket costs at bay is to stay healthy. An unhealthy lifestyle \u2014 smoking tobacco, excessive drinking, lack of exercise, or being overweight \u2014 results in more trips to the doctor\u2019s office, a higher risk of developing a chronic disease, and a rise in the cost of healthcare.<\/p>\n
Instead of tackling all of your unhealthy habits at once, focus on one:<\/p>\n
Healthy habits tend to have a snowball effect. Imagine a snowball growing as it rolls down a hill. The more snow that sticks, the larger the snowball grows, and the faster it rolls.<\/p>\n
Make one healthy habit part of your routine, and you\u2019ll be energized to tackle more.<\/p>\n
Schedule a visit with your primary care doctor to discuss healthy lifestyle habits and your personal and family\u2019s health history.<\/p>\n
Receive the standard, recommended tests (free under most healthcare plans):<\/p>\n
Taking these tests and talking to your doctor regularly and openly can help you minimize your risk for diseases and keep rising healthcare costs down.<\/p>\n
Do you know what is and isn\u2019t covered by your plan? Avoid uncovered costs tomorrow by using your covered preventive care today.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s use oral health as an example. If you take your suggested two trips a year to see the dentist, you\u2019re much less likely to need a root canal. Why? These check-ups will deep-clean your teeth and identify any signs of future issues. If your dentist sees you have gingivitis, they may help you adjust your brushing and flossing techniques.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not making time for preventive care, you\u2019re setting yourself up for spending you might otherwise avoid. Your health plan wants you to be healthy, so work with it, not against it.<\/p>\n
Only an estimated 8% of people see out-of-network physicians<\/a>. This is great news if you\u2019re in the 92%! If you\u2019re one of the 8%, remember that seeing an out-of-network doctor means you could be responsible for some pretty hefty medical bills.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you see a doctor for a $425 visit. If the doctor is in-network, you\u2019ll likely only have to pay your copay or between $15 and $50 for an office visit. (Expect to see higher copays for specialists than for primary care doctors).<\/p>\n But if your doctor is out-of-network, you\u2019ll foot the entire bill. That\u2019s a $400 difference. Ouch!<\/p>\n In the US, many people take prescription medications:<\/p>\n Prescription drugs can be broken down into 2 categories: name-brand and generic.<\/p>\n Generic drugs are modeled after the name-brand drug and are required to have the \u201csame active ingredient, strength, dosage, form and route of administration as the brand-name product.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n What\u2019s the difference, then? Price.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see prices 80% to 85% lower on generic drugs compared with their name-brand counterparts. Research shows that generic drugs work just as well as name-brand drugs.<\/p>\n Ask your doctor if your prescription has a generic alternative, which will help offset your potential rising healthcare costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this era of rising healthcare costs, medical expenses can take a healthy bite out of your wallet. From maintaining a healthy lifestyle and quitting bad habits to switching to generic prescriptions, here are 5 ways you can curb rising healthcare costs. 1. Shift your lifestyle The best way to keep those high out-of-pocket costs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":1054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[19,25,454,290,408,35,38,80],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-featured.jpg","acf":{"post_subtitle":"Beat the odds: Discover ways to avoid spending more than you need to on healthcare this year.","post_hero_image":{"ID":1053,"id":1053,"title":"ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero","filename":"Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","filesize":48773,"url":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/5-tips-curb-rising-healthcare-costs\/ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero\/","alt":"A stethoscope lies atop a hundred dollar bill.","author":"49","description":"A stethoscope lies atop a hundred dollar bill.","caption":"Halt rising healthcare costs with our five tips.","name":"ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":967,"date":"2017-02-01 18:13:15","modified":"2017-11-15 00:30:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":63,"medium":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":125,"medium_large":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":267,"large":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":267,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-hero.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":400}},"post_cta_status":"true","post_co_branding_status":"false","post_type":"post","post_conclusion_status":"false","mobile_content":{"mobile_story_label":"Health 101","mobile_post_title":"5 tips to curb rising healthcare costs","mobile_carousel_image":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/rising-healthcare-costs-mobile-carousel.jpg","mobile_hero_image":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Ways-to-curb-rising-healthcare-prices-featured.jpg","mobile_content_body":" In this era of rising healthcare costs, medical expenses can take a healthy bite out of your wallet.<\/p>\n From maintaining a healthy lifestyle and quitting bad habits, to switching to generic prescriptions, here are five ways you can curb rising healthcare costs.<\/p>\n The best way to keep those high out-of-pocket costs at bay is to stay healthy.<\/p>\n If you do have unhealthy habits, focus on one at a time. Healthy habits \u2014 like eating whole, unprocessed foods, getting eight hours of sleep each night, and exercising a few times a week \u2014 tend to have a snowball effect.<\/p>\n Make one healthy habit part of your routine, and you\u2019ll be energized to tackle more.<\/p>\n Schedule a visit with your primary care doctor to discuss your lifestyle habits and receive the standard, recommended tests. These may include pap smears, breast exams, mammograms, blood tests, and prostate screenings.<\/p>\n Taking these tests and talking to your doctor regularly and openly can help you minimize your risk of diseases and keep rising healthcare costs down.<\/p>\n Do you know what is and isn\u2019t covered by your plan? Avoid uncovered costs tomorrow by using your covered preventive care today.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not making time for preventive care, you\u2019re setting yourself up to spend money in the future you might otherwise avoid. Your health plan wants you to be healthy. So work with it, not against it.<\/p>\n5. Go generic<\/h2>\n
\n
1. Shift your lifestyle<\/h3>\n
2. Use your doctor<\/h3>\n
3. Preventive care<\/h3>\n
4. Stay in-network<\/h3>\n