This blog is no exception and I have one simple message: when it comes to health care, everything is negotiable.
A while back, 60 Minutes did a story about the advantages of having health insurance to cover a hospitalization. We know, of course, that it's better to have health insurance. But what many still don't understand is that health insurance companies pay much less for your health care than you would if you were uninsured.
In other words, when you go into a hospital, without insurance, you get a bill for the retail cost of services.
It's therefore important, and smart as well, to attempt to negotiate such bills directly with hospital. After all, they're getting less for similar services from almost everyone who pays them.
Nearly all hospitals, and most health care providers, too, would rather get something rather than nothing.
It's perfectly appropriate to ask for a 20 to 40 percent reduction in your hospital bill if you are uninsured. And besides, what do you have to lose other than debt?