DALLAS — For many voters, the crushing cost of health care is the only issue. Those high costs are leading to a growing number of “underinsured” Americans.
People who are underinsured have high deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses relative to their incomes. That means they may skip care, or struggle to pay the bills.
Nearly one in three Americans (29%) were underinsured in 2018, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
And last year, Commonwealth ranked Texas dead last among states for access and affordability. Texas lawmakers began studying health care costs in the state in December.
Tom Banning, CEO of Texas Academy of Family Physicians, sent lawmakers a letter telling them they have a chance to identify state-based strategies that could trigger dramatic improvements, because other states have already started tackling the issue. Banning thinks more needs to be committed to primary care, and he argues coverage is meaningless if people can’t afford to access services.
He is our guest on this week’s episode of Y’all-itics, and the Jasons discovered that in some cases, patients and doctors aren’t waiting on politicians, but are instead working together to save each other money.
You can listen to the entire conversation on Y’all-itics wherever you get your podcasts:
In the meantime, here are a few tips for you to save some money now:
- Shop around. You will often find better deals, sometimes literally right across the street. This could be for anything ranging from an X-ray or imaging to prescriptions.
- Pay cash, even if you have insurance. If you’re not forced to use a person or service “in network,” there’s a chance you’ll find something cheaper. Just know it might make it hard for you to meet your deductible that year.
- There’s an app for that. Plenty of apps are designed to save you money, or at least help you find the best deal, including Good RX, for example. Good RX allows you to enter a prescription and it finds the cost of that prescription at locations all around you.
- If you have a dental expense, go ahead and file it with your medical insurance. Some of the expense might be covered and the amount can be applied towards your deductible.
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