Jill Overmyer The thought of someone gaining access to your personal information and then using it for financial gain is frightening. The bank may refund your money the thief drains from your bank account. Yet things like replacing all your credit cards, getting a new driver’s license and correcting your credit record will cost you … Read more
Marcus Pickett It’s no surprise that the struggling economy is draining bank accounts and job prospects. Yet it also could be draining your health. Increased stress, the loss of employer group insurance coverage and the inability to pay for care may be feeding an increase in mental health issues and motivating Americans to delay care. Skipping … Read more
Marcus Pickett You’ve probably seen them in your email inbox or your spam folder — emails promising great deals on prescription drugs. The links in these emails lead to online pharmacies, where hundreds of medications are available at the click of a mouse. Unfortunately, these online drugs often are not what the doctor ordered — … Read more
Marcus Pickett A Commonwealth Fund report has found that 72 percent of people who lose their health coverage when they become unemployed do not receive needed health care or prescription medications due to the cost. Adding insult to injury, forgoing these health care services does not eliminate health-care-related financial problems. The report indicates that 72 percent of … Read more
Jill Overmyer If you’ve ever visited the emergency room, you know that the waits can be long. And your wait could get longer. Instead of visiting the family doctor, more and more people are resorting to the ER. Two recent studies reveal why. Who’s visiting the ER? In the past, a cut finger over the … Read more
Mary Lou Jay Advertisements for medical discount plans usually promise to save you big bucks on your health care costs. Although there are some legitimate plans available, many of them are scams. Fraudulent medical discounts plans target people who can’t afford regular health care insurance, who have lost their coverage or who have pre-existing medical conditions … Read more
Amy Higgins Medical care can bring sky-high bills, especially if you have a high deductible or no health insurance at all. But instead of wondering how you’re going to pay those bills, you may want to ask, “Could I be paying less?” Just as with many other financial transactions, bargaining is an option when it … Read more
Mary Lou Jay Instead of heading to the doctor’s office, many Americans choose to visit a medical clinic located in a pharmacy or a discount store when they need help with minor medical problems. The use of retail medical clinics increased tenfold between 2007 and 2009, according to a RAND Corp. study. Using data from 13.3 … Read more
Peter D. Fleming If the lawsuits that four union-sponsored health insurance plans have filed against eight prescription drug makers are successful, the co-pay coupons and cards that millions of consumers use to help them afford brand-name drugs could become a thing of the past. Co-pay coupons and cards are growing in popularity. Most of these deals save … Read more
Mary Lou Jay Could spending a half hour each day meditating help reduce your medical costs? There’s a good possibility that it could, according to a study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion. Researchers looked at 248 people in Quebec, Canada, who had been identified as having consistently high health care costs. Half of … Read more