Healthcare Reform Teaches Financial Responsibility Part II

As consumers it is not about the doctors in the networks as much as it is about ways of lowering medical expenses. As people complain about the network of providers due to the recent changes in Healthcare Reform; the question you should be asking your provider is; are you part of xyz network? Healthcare reform has changed drastically for the better to help many people who once were never able to receive any type of coverage due to either unaffordable premium rates or because of a person's pre-existing conditions.

The changes with Healthcare Reform has made it possible for even with people who has multiple health conditions; even they are now able to get the medical services they need from healthcare professionals. Many people today place too much value on their providers; either they are part of the insurers network or they are not.

Most consumers do not understand the purpose for in network and the out-of-network benefit of providers. These two features are important in the sense they can and will save you a certain amount of money by using providers within the network. An example; for someone whose goes to their in-network provider their co-insurance will be lower than compared to someone who goes to an out-of-network doctor. If you choose to go to an out-of-network provider your co-insurance could be as high as 40% to 50% more depending on certain plans. Insurers cannot make health care professionals stay in their network.

The purpose for using in network providers is to help control the cost of insurance and this helps control what insurers pay healthcare professionals. Though you may have built a relationship your current provider; if he or she is not willing to accept lower negotiated rates, then they will not be part of the network, and as a consumer you would have to find another doctor in the network if you want to save money on the services rendered by a physician. If insurers are going to lower insurance premiums, healthcare professionals have to come on board and accept lower rates to help reduce the cost of healthcare. This is what it is going to take to help lower cost and to help consumers realize we all have to live within a certain budget to control and reduce medical cost.

Is your current healthcare practitioner worthy of your loyalty to him or her? It's not about being loyal to your physician as much as it is about your physician being loyal to you. Keep in mind as a consumer you are the one having services rendered to you, though your provider has an expertise in a particular area of medicine; does that mean he or she are the only ones practicing medicine in that specialty? Most likely not; although every physician has the right to choose which plan he or she will accept to their practice, one of the best ways to get your practitioner into a network is to ask them to join and negotiate a reasonable rate with your insurer. We all need to understand that insurance is in place to protect us from financial losses. As consumers, in order to keep medical expenses down, we have to work within the network of providers insurers offer us; this will help lower the overall cost of healthcare services.

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