Millions of diagnostic exams are performed in the United States each year. However, planning and paying for these often-essential procedures can be confusing and sometimes much more expensive than they need to be. If diagnostic exams were like most consumer products, you could simply compare imaging scan prices online, come up with the funds, and make your purchase. Unfortunately, almost nothing … Read More
Three components: patient, doctor and insurance provider
Let’s talk about a term that may be unfamiliar to many people but may cause lots and lots of confusion, aggravation and stress: medical necessity. Medical necessity is defined as “accepted health care services and supplies provided by health care entities, appropriate to the evaluation and treatment of a disease, condition, illness or injury and consistent with the applicable standard … Read More
Be a smart shopper on health care
The bane of any purchaser is not knowing enough about the purchase opportunity. We try hard to understand the relationship between price and what we’re getting. Nowhere is this bane more pronounced than in our relationship with our health care system. There are many ways we interface with it: Emergencies — where we ask no questions and simply plead to … Read More
Your health insurance benefits: things you should know to save money
IF YOUR EXAM IS COVERED BY PRIVATE INSURANCE: To control costs, your insurer negotiates with imaging providers on your behalf for a “contracted rate.” The contracted rate is the maximum amount that an imaging provider can collect for a covered service, and is usually less than the standard charge. What is not widely known is that the contracted rate is … Read More
Employer health plan deductibles see big 5-year jump
DIS shares a USA Today news story from September on a report that indicates health insurance deductibles taking a huge jump as we head into 2015. Premiums for employer-paid insurance are up 3% this year, but deductibles are up nearly 50% since 2009, the report by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows. The average deductible this year is $1,217, up from … Read More
Introducing the CareCredit healthcare credit card program
DIS has produced a short presentation that highlights the important points of the CareCredit healthcare financing program. With CareCredit, people can have assistance in paying for healthcare expenses, such as imaging exams, and spread those payments over six months with no interest being charged. CareCredit can also be used to pay for deductibles and co-payments. View our video below to … Read More