Six Simple Ways to Save Money on Unexpected Health Expenses
Unexpected health issues can lead to surprising amounts of health expenses. However, a little prevention and evaluation goes a long way and can significantly make a difference in the costs of these medical events. Here are six simple ways to save money on your unexpected health expenses:
Evaluate your emergency
Nearly half of all emergency room visits are due to the patient’s doctor’s clinic not being open. Is an urgent care clinic or a walk-in clinic a sufficient alternative for your health concern? If the answer is yes, go to the urgent care clinic and save time as well as money. Many health insurance providers and offices offer after-hours nurse advice or a help line as well, which can help you determine if you should go to the emergency room or wait until business hours to see your normal doctor. If it’s something that can wait until tomorrow, don’t rush to the emergency room. However, if you are unsure whether or not you are in a true emergency, it is safer to go to the emergency room or call an ambulance.
Exercise and eat healthy
Doing these two things alone can improve your immunity, energy, and overall health. That means less work missed for sick days and less doctors visits, both of which are very beneficial on the wallet. If you have a busy schedule with work and other demands, start by just doing five to ten minutes of exercise a day. While this might not seem like much, it can make a big difference and set the mindset to do more exercise. To get started on eating healthier, consider making a lunch at home to bring with you to work instead of going out. Avoid processed foods and fill up and fruits and vegetables instead.
Get preventative dental & orthodontic work done when suggested
Prevention is the best medicine. By scheduling your teeth cleanings and check-ups when your dentist and orthodontist recommends, you can avoid paying more money for a more serious concern. Getting something like braces hidden behind the teeth can improve your smile with little invasion or change of look, say the experts at Mar Orthodontics. Doing this now can help you avoid expensive dental work down the road.
Learn some home remedies
Garlic is a natural antibiotic. Raw honey can help wounds heal fast while protecting against infection and lemon is a natural antiseptic. By learning more about common household items and home remedies, you can forgo the doctors visits and expensive medications for simple health issues. Some of these may even help with more serious health issues and long-term ailments. You can even make your own cleaning products with vinegar, which costs a fraction of the cleaning items you pay for at the store, not to mention it doesn’t have the added chemicals that can harm your health.
Buy generic
Medication costs can get outrageous. Save money buy purchasing the generic brand of over-the-counter medications and ask your pharmacist for the generic brands of pharmaceuticals. Most of the generic brands work just as well as the name brand at a fraction of the cost.
Take probiotics
Probiotics can significantly improve your health in many ways. They stabilize digestive health which can also in turn prevent obesity. Probiotics also prevent yeast infections, promote immunity, prevent UTI’s, and even promote oral health. That can lead to less doctors and dentists visits and less work missed as well.
Following these six simple steps will save you a lot of money on unexpected health expenses. Even applying one or two steps at a time to your life can significantly decrease the bills caused by surprise medical mishaps. Imagine the hundreds of dollars you can save by simply practicing preventative care and evaluating all of your options.
Category: Health