A new report from Consumer Reports features advice on this very topic.

“Americans are overwhelmed by health costs and many people simply can’t pay their bills, can’t afford their medications,” says Dr. John Santa, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, in a news release. “The last thing most patients want to do is haggle with their doctors, but a little bit of negotiating can go a long way.

“It’s also important to know that there are tremendous variations in health care costs —knowing this can help a consumer get a hand up and politely insist on the fairest possible price.”

Consumer Reports offers this advice for three possible scenarios:

You’re healthy. The optimal time for patients to talk with their healthcare providers about costs is before any have been incurred. While doctors have a professional obligation to take a patient’s financial resources into account, patients should raise the issue with their doctors to let them know that costs are important to them.

“For a variety of reasons, doctors are likely to suggest the most expensive options first. But you might be surprised by your doctor’s willingness to change course, for example prescribing fewer expensive brand name drugs or choosing watchful waiting over a costly diagnostic test,”  Santa said.

The unexpected occurs. A patient lands in the hospital without the benefit of any planning and gets slammed with a huge bill, say $15,000 for a coronary angiogram, and insurance ends up covering only a fraction of the bill.

These approaches are recommended to get the greatest reduction to their bill:

• Sit down with the doctor who ordered or performed the hospital services to find out how the hospital costs ran so high. Were all the services needed and reasonably priced? Consumers can judge for themselves by checking www.healthcarebluebook.com which lists the going rates for many medical services for free. Closely examine each bill to identify errors, which are common.
• Consumers should not assume the price on their bill is set in stone. Providers often discount rates substantially to insurers and others, so why shouldn’t a consumer ask for the same rate reduction? Consumers should dispute any charges they think their insurance company ought to cover.
• Patients should not pay their bill until they have exhausted all of their options, but they should make clear to the hospital’s billing department that reaching a resolution is important to them. They might consider making a discounted offer they think would be manageable within a set time period. Consumers can consult one of the reputable groups that, for a fee, can help reduce the size of medical bills, such as INSNET (www.myinsnet.com) or Medical Cost Advocate (www.medicalcostadvocate.com).

You’re having an elective surgery. This situation allows for more planning and research into the best procedure, doctor, hospital, drug or other option. As you do research, keep in mind this advice:

• Consumers should shop around, talk to different providers, and bargain for what they think is a fair price.
• Consumers shouldn’t hesitate to ask for the price upfront and get it in writing. Request an itemized list of all potential charges.
• As with any purchase, consumers should beware of any offer that sounds too good to be true. If a provider suggests a shortcut, be wary and ask a lot of questions, and check out providers that are unfamiliar.

For more on medical safety issues, see the library of articles by Daytona Beach medical malpractice attorney.

Decide for yourself if that is the situation in the following instance. Some will surely say yes, some will surely say no.  Let’s start with the simple rule. In civil proceedings, plaintiffs may not be compensated more than once for the same injury. This is regardless of whether multiple perpetrators caused the damage.

For example, one person is killed by two people. The death would not have occured but for the actions of BOTH people. That is, one perpetrator’s actions alone would not have been enough to cause death. The actions of both perpetrators were necessary to cause death. Therefore, both perpetratrors are culpable for the death.

Now what happens if the victim’s wife sues both perpetrators in civil court and receives $100,000 from Perp 1 to compensate them for the loss of her husband?  Well, depending on the facts of the case, the wife may not be able to find a lawyer willing to represent her in her case against Perp 2.

It all depends on the lawyer’s opinion of what kind of monetary value a jury will place on the husband’s life. If the lawyer thinks a jury will say the husband’s life was worth $1 million, then the lawyer will take the case. However, depending on the lawyer, the lower the value the jury will give to the husband’s life, the less likely any lawyer will agree to represent the wife.

This is because of the one compensation rule. The wife cannot be compensated more than once for the loss of her husband. This means that if the wife sued Perp 2, the case went to trial and a jury said that Perp 2 was liable for the husband’s death and that the husband’s life was worth $100,000, then the wife would not receive any money from Perp 2 and Perp 2 would go unpunished.