Why Shop Around for Everything

So, I recently had to have a chest x-ray from an annoying cough and wanted to make mention of it to make a point why it pays to shop around for EVERYTHING.

With health insurance the way it is today, medical costs can be very high - but you can still shop around and it definitely pays to do so. Here's a few tips:

-Call various hospitals and clinics - they don't all charge the same fees.
-Ask for any discount plans, most will offer you a reduced fee - especially if you tell them you don't have insurance.
-Most medical costs can be negotiated either that aren't covered or fully covered by insurance - ask them for their best price or many will set up a payment plan.
-Sometimes you can save up to 50% if you pay the bill in full immediately.
-Be sure to cover all fees associated with your procedure (lab test, technician fees, lab work, etc.)

With that said, I called around to 4 different locations for a simple chest x-ray and these were the prices I was quoted:
-Hospital 1: $150  including technicians fees
-Hospital 2: $502  including technicians fees
-Clinic: $34.06 including technicians fees
-Hospital 3: didn't get quote as they told me it would be cheaper to go to clinic.

You can see that I easily saved $100s of dollars just by taking the time to call around. Each hospital varied significantly on their costs for this one procedure and going to a clinic is much cheaper than a hospital. Of course, you may not be able to shop around for medical procedures when it is an emergency situation, but it is otherwise well worth it when you can.