No one wants to pay more for health insurance. Whether it is monthly premiums or the rising costs of necessary prescription drugs, everyone is looking to save a dollar. When shopping for insurance quotes it is important to know that money can be saved in a number of places.

Two of the biggest cost cutting areas to most patients are on co-insurance and co-payments. Co-payments are fixed prices a patient must pay for services as determined by their health insurance company. A patient may pay 40 dollars for a doctor’s visit regardless of what the visit is for. Usually co-payments are used in insurance plans called HMO’s.

Co-insurance is a percentage a patient must pay for health care services rendered. A hospital stay may cost the patient 10% of the total cost. Co-insurance is usually seen in health care plans called PPO’s. When obtaining insurance quotes it will be made known whether the plan involves co-payments and co-insurance.

The best way to reduce the cost of co-insurance is to stay within insurance’s preferred network of healthcare providers. These providers work with the insurance company to keep cost of care low so the insurance company offers a benefit to its patients for staying within that network.

A person who is admitted to a hospital that is “in network” may only have to pay 10% of the cost of their stay. If a patient is admitted to a hospital that is “out of network” a patient may pay as much as 20% of the cost of their stay. Thus staying “in-network” saves a patient considerable money.

With health care co-payments it is most important to make sure the patient is following proper protocol in order to have services covered. Most HMO’s make the patient pick a primary care physician. Patients should continue to go through this physician for their medical issues. If a patient is going to go see a specialist it’s important to make sure they have a referral from their primary doctor. Not following protocol such as getting a referral and going to the proper healthcare providers will result in services not being covered which is far more expensive than a co-pay.

Another way a patient can lower co-payments and coinsurance is to practice prevention. Going for yearly checkups and physicals, as well as treating symptoms early can all lead to better overall health. This alone can lower your co-insurance and co-payment costs by a significant percentage.

Everyone gets sick at some point and everyone needs a doctor from time to time, but paying attention to the preferences of your insurance company can save you money in the long run.