9 Secrets Health Insurers Don’t Want You to Know

By Suz Redfearn
From Health magazine

Health insurance companies like to keep secrets. And they like to save money. Example: You have surgery, and weeks later you get a bill for using an out-of-network anesthesiologist. Ridiculous, right? You didn’t choose who put you under, so you shouldn’t have to pay extra. But your insurer sent the bill anyway, hoping you wouldn’t notice.

Fighting back against this kind of trickery—and winning—is a lot easier than you think, says Kevin Flynn, the president of Healthcare Advocates, a Philadelphia-based firm that helps patients wrangle with their health plans. We checked with Flynn and other insurance-industry insiders, lawyers, doctors, and regulators to uncover nine little-known ways to get the health coverage you deserve—for less. How to Get Your Medical Insurer to Cover Alternative Medicine Treatments

Don’t pay if you don’t have a say
When you purposely see an out-of-network doctor, your plan usually makes it clear that it’ll cost you. But when you have surgery, the hospital chooses the anesthesiologist. If you get that annoying “out-of-network” bill, Flynn says, draft a strongly worded letter stating you had no say about the anesthesiologist—in-network or otherwise—and, therefore, won’t pay any additional fees.

“If you don’t have direct control, you are not liable,” Flynn says, adding that this tactic is likely to work every time, but few consumers know about it. How the Costs of Diabetes Add Up—and How to Save

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