As of 7/1/12, you’re all going to have maternity benefits added to your existing coverage.  Wahoo!

Yes, it’s true… SB 222 and AB 210, passed last year by our illustrious governor, are going to give each and every one of you this brand new benefit in your health insurance.

The new benefit will include, office visits, prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care.    The benefits for maternity costs will be treated just like any other benefits under your plan… deductible and co-pays will still apply.

And to reassure your pretty little heads, because this benefit is being added to all plans – and, therefore, the cost risk is spread over many, many more policies – your monthly premiums should not be affected.

Babies for all!

Good news!  Anthem Blue Cross has announced that Hospital Corporation of America’s California hospitals once again participate in Anthem BC’s’ network.

In Southern California:

Anthem Blue Cross has been unable to re-negotiate its contracts with the following hospitals, so they are now considered out-of-network.

In Southern California:

MyRxSavings is a pretty cool prescription discount program.  Go to the site, print out your discount card and you’re off to the land of saving money!  You can even print out manufacturer’s discount coupons for some of your favorite drugs.     You’ll see coupons for as low as $4 for a 30-day supply of that expensive drug you’ve been taking for so long.

Instead of giving all of your money to the big pharma companies, let them pay for your drugs!   Be sure to read the fine print.  You can’t use the discount card or coupons in addition to discounts you may be already receiving from your health insurance plan or if you’re on Medicare.

Another great resource from me to you!

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