Because every January 1st most health insurance deductibles re-set to… ZERO!   That’s right.   No matter how much of your deductible you met this year, starting 1/1 most likely your deductible starts all over again.

It doesn’t have to be all bad, though.   Remember that your deductible simply represents medical expenses your doctors have submitted to your insurance company… NOT how you’ve paid the bill.   YOU decide how to pay off your bills; don’t let the doctor’s billing service tell you how to budget your money for their benefit.

Fight for your money!   Feel free to be in touch with The Insurance Mom to brainstorm this brilliant money management idea.

Happy New Year everyone!

The 17-year patent has finally expired… wahoo!  Now the drug is available in generic form.    Atorvastatin is the generic name to ask about at the doctor’s office or pharmacy.

Today’s health insurance plans usually have a “tiered” drug benefit.   Drugs on Tier 1 are the least expensive; most of them are generics.   Atorvastatin has been added to most formularies at the Tier 1 level, meaning they’re going to save you SO much money!

If your doctor insists that you continue to take the brand name drug Lipitor, well…   Tell your doctor you want him/her to pay for it!     Or give you free samples.    It’s been moved to Tier 3 in most formularies and is going to put a severe cramp in your monthly budget!

Fight for your money!  Spend less.  Use generic drugs.  It will not only cost you less but it will cost the insurance companies less too.  If we all insist on prescriptions for generics only, then the insurance companies spend less on ridiculously high-cost drugs and we could all have an impact on how insurance premiums rise every year.

And just think, if you’re spending less on prescriptions you’ll have more money available for sushi!

Ask your doctor if a generic drug is available and make sure it’s in the same class of drugs as the expensive brand name drug he wants to you to buy.

Generics have the same active ingredients, strengths and dose as the more expensive brand name versions.

A single manufacturer no longer holds the (17 year!) patent, so there’s more competition to keep the price down.

Tell your doctor that if he wants you to have a brand name drug, then spend his money not yours!  Or give you free samples.

Think about using a lab that isn’t located in or part of a hospital.

They’re often way less expensive than a hospital lab, and some health insurance plans have a lower co-pay for outside labs.

And many outside labs have more flexible hours, like when you need to go early in the morning before your half-caf-half-decaf-low-fat-vanilla-with-a-hint-of-cinammon-latte.

They can take less time than an emergency room, are open nights and weekends and could save you a TON o’money!

The doctors wanted to run every diagnostic test they could think of, often more than once.   They suggested all sorts of treatments and medications.  And they knew he was terminal.

Although we kept the procedures to a minimum, the costs mounted and Medicare wound up with that outrageous bill.  What’s important here in addition to the insane cost of medical care (which the health care “reform” doesn’t even begin to address), is that Medicare reduced the hospital’s bill to $14,000 and Cedars Sinai had to write off the rest.   Really.

All PPO plans work this way!  It’s why I tell my clients to avoid paying a provider in full for medical expenses before the insurance company processes your claim.  Otherwise, it’s more than likely that you’ll overpay for your medical services and getting a refund from a provider is painful!

Fight for your money!  S/he who writes the checks has the power… not the receptionist behind the front desk or the provider’s billing service.

Talk to me about other exciting discussions you should be having with your providers… it’ll open your eyes and maybe even save you some money.

This recently came across The Insurance Mom’s e-desk and, although I can’t give it a thumbs up or down, it does look intriguing!   Let me know how it works for you.

Waiting days for a doctor’s appointment can make you extremely uneasy — not only do you not know what that lump is, but, more importantly, how are you ever going to find out what sort of crazy situation Goofus & Gallant have gotten themselves into now? Giving you near-immediate answers to the first of those questions: ZocDoc.

Just launched in LA, ZocDoc is exactly like OpenTable for MDs, w/ over 100,000 appointments available right away, which means you can get checked out far more quickly than the alleged average of 24 days.   Using it’s simple: first, input your insurance provider, then ZD’ll spit back a list of docs with available times (possibly as soon as that very day), brief bios, and user reviews, because, who better to turn to for advice on a doctor than “MoneyRashHoes69″? Guys/girls with stethoscopes and white coats are also searchable by specialty and are updated in real time, and once you pick the doc you want, all you need to do is let them know why you’ll be visiting, or to save time, just say “symptoms comparable to user name MoneyRashHoes69″.

Of course, they’ve also got an iPhone app, which also allows you to book outside of LA — so if something happens in Tucson, you can always Ask (for) Arizona.

Hit it (but not too hard or you’ll have to make a second appointment) at ZocDoc.com

The Insurance Mom wants you to really take care of yourself.    Everyday I talk to people who, seemingly all of a sudden, get sick — and it comes as such a surprise to them.    What would be different if, every year, you have some simple tests done?

You might just stay healthy, that’s what (and save money, too!).   It’s easy.  You can do it, I know you can!  And then you can tell all your friends that The Insurance Mom is taking care of you.

If your Mom or Dad would prefer to get better at home (and who wouldn’t?), the cost of home care is about double.

Do you have over $180,000 (or more?) to pay for long term care services?   No?  Do your parents have over $180,000 to pay for long term services?  No?   What ever will you do?

The Insurance Mom knows!  Doesn’t that make you feel better already?    Long Term Care Insurance is the answer.   Let an insurance company pay the bills.

Find out how.   What better reason to call The Insurance Mom?

If you have health insurance and your co-pay is less than $54, you’ll be able to buy Lipitor for $4 with Pfizer’s new discount card, for up to 12 months.     If your co-pay is more than $55, you’ll only pay$5.

Spend less of your money.    And, consequently, less of the insurance company’s money.   Let the drug company buy your drugs for you!

The Insurance Mom says when we all put less of a burden on the insurance companies, the less of a burden they put on us with higher premiums!