5 Ways to Protect Yourself From Huge Medical Bills

Medical bills can do a lot of damage to your long-term and short-term financial health. Even for those who have medical insurance, there can still be unexpected medical bills that can derail your budget. So, how can your prevent them?



The first step is to understand what your insurance plan covers and get familiar with the procedure for having your claims covered. It might be boring, but it's not something you will want to have to figure out when you are in the middle of an emergency or health crisis. Often, you'll find that the medical bills could have been prevented if you had done things differently.



To prevent these large bills, here are 5 ways to protect yourself:



Do you really need the trip to the emergency room? - Emergency rooms are more expensive than doctor visits and are designed to treat actual medical emergencies. Your insurance company probably charges a higher co-pay for emergency room visits and there might be other charges you will have to be responsible for. Before you go to the ER, make sure that there aren't other options. Just be clear, I don't mean avoiding getting treatment for actual emergencies. It's just that over 25% of ER visits are for things that could have been treated in a doctor's office or at an urgent care center.



Call a nurse or helpline -  Find out if your insurance company has a helpline or an "ask a nurse" program. Many times insurance providers require that you contact the nurse before going to the ER. If you don't, they may not cover the visit. The nurse will ask you questions about the condition and symptoms and provide useful advice. They can give you excellent first-aid pointers and advise you if you should make an appointment with your doctor, go to the ER or visit an urgent care center.



What about urgent care? - Many minor emergencies can be treated at an urgent care center. Most of them are able to take patients on a walk-in basis and are equipped to treat burns, cuts, sprains and other issues. The cost of an urgent care visit is typically much less than an emergency room visit and healthy adults can even use some urgent care centers as their primary physician.



Should you take the ambulance? - In the movies, when someone falls down or needs stitches, people freak out and call 911. In reality, it isn't a good idea to call an ambulance for every event. Assess the situation and find out how urgent the emergency is. For example, a broken bone isn't something that you need an ambulance for. It's often cheaper to have someone drive you to the ER rather than calling the ambulance. Of course, you have to use your best judgment. If something seems life-threatening, don't hesitate to call for assistance.



Review your bill - Go over your itemized statement and make sure that all of the charges are legitimate. There are often many, many mistakes on medical bills and most people don't really look at the bills. Even if your insurance is paying most of the bill, question the charges you don't recognize and make sure that you and your insurance provider aren't paying for things that weren't done.



When you are in the middle of a medical crisis or dealing with a hospitalization, you probably won't be in any condition to navigate the red tape of the insurance process. In order to protect your physical and financial health, it's important to know the information and have a plan in place to avoid needless medical bills.