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.

“No matter how hard you may try to end a relationship, it isn’t over until it’s over on every level for each person who was once a part of it.  So long as either of you is still attached, the relationship remains – if only as a fantasy.  So long as you are attached, by sorrow, anger, or disappointment, to the relationship of the past, you escape the joy of the relationships of the future.

Do you have any loose ends with someone that still need tying up?  Are you still grieving for the partner who left you for someone else?  Angry at the spouse who abandoned you and your children?

Whatever unresolved feelings you harbor, they are affecting your present capacity to love.  Do yourself a favor and work them through, if need be with professional help.  Because only when you have truly let go will you be able to take hold of something new.”

The Insurance Mom wants you to have a loving, peaceful heart.   When you live love and feel the peace, your body won’t be under so much stress.  And when you’re feeling less stressed, your body won’t hurt so much.   And when you’re not hurting you won’t go to the doctor so much or take so many medications.

And then?   And then you won’t have to rely on a health insurance company to pay for medical expenses and prescriptions.

Amazing!     See how that works?

If you’ve been putting off preparing your taxes until the last minute, you have until Monday, April 18th to get it done.

No, the IRS is not just being generous.   The mini-extension comes thanks to Emancipation Day, a Washington DC holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves in the District.

And you thought the IRS was just giving you a break!