No matter our current health or our financial circumstances, it’s safe to say that we all want to spend less cash on health care. While we can get fantastic health care in the United States, the costs can be hard to swallow. This is especially true for employers, as they need to ensure that they can afford pricey health care premiums for their employees.
Amidst a global pandemic and increasing levels of uncertainty, all of us need to be proactive to manage our health care costs. That being said, there is some good news. The good news is that we can take action today by partnering with health care companies that focus on cost-cutting strategies. For individuals and employees, partnering with these companies results in cold, hard cash in their pockets. And as for employers? They’re able to not only save the cash themselves, but have happier employees who understand that insurance is the only solution to cutting expenses.
It is for these reasons that we want to discuss several companies that can help with your cost-cutting strategies. These are companies that we ourselves use. We have seen them significantly cut costs for our clients. While you don’t need to work with all of these companies, doing so can go a long way in lowering your health care expenses.
Zenni Optical
Zenni Optical is a fantastic company that helps reduce prices for those of us who wear glasses. The company was founded in 2003 by two scientists in San Francisco. According to the company, Zenni Optical was founded to answer one key question: “Doesn’t everyone deserve to look good wearing an affordable pair of glasses?”
Zenni Optical has stuck to this vision since its founding. The company is laser-focused on providing the highest quality and most affordable eyeglasses to customers around the world. Looking at Zenni Optical’s website, you can see that there are plenty of options at your fingertips. You can find stylish and functional prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses, sports glasses, and even goggles. In terms of pricing, you’ll find that Zenni Optical’s frames and lenses are cheaper than competitors like Warby Parker, Coastal, GlassesUSA, or Frames Direct.
The beauty of Zenni Optical is that, for some people, it can go so far as to be effective in lieu of vision insurance. As the company says, when you order eyewear through Zenni Optical, you do not need to make an order through eye care insurance. Instead, you can save a substantial amount of money through Zenni Optical versus the costs that you would incur by going to the eye doctor’s office. You may also be able to capitalize on tax savings. In the end, Zenni Optical is a great company and one that can help you obtain affordable eyewear.
AblePay Health
Next, let’s talk about AblePay Health. AblePay Health is a company that can help you substantially cut your out-of-pocket copay costs. While most of us tend to focus on our monthly premium payments, out-of-pocket copays can quickly add up. Ultimately, the company’s overall goal is to help you navigate the health care system as efficiently and painlessly as possible.
So how can AblePay Health help you manage your out-of-pocket copays? The company assists its members by providing discounts, flexible and convenient payment options, and support. Critically, AblePay Health is not a health savings plan or supplemental insurance. Instead, the company characterizes itself as a “unique and innovative program” that assists its provider partners to reduce expenses and receivable times.
Once you become an AblePay Health member, you receive a physical card in the mail. When you are seeking medical treatment, you present your AblePay Health card along with your primary insurance card. From there, you have your medical provider enter AblePay Health as secondary insurance. While you will eventually receive an explanation of benefits from your primary insurer, you can use AblePay Health to view your claim and decide how you want to pay your bill. In other words, AblePay Health gives you the flexibility to decide both your payment method and term. You have the power to decide the discount that you want to receive and the method that you’ll use to pay your bill.
This is a big deal. With AblePay Health, you can achieve lower copays at zero cost to you. The company says that members get about 13% in savings. You can click here to view some of AblePay’s Participating Providers. They include well-known providers like St. Luke’s University Health Network, Lehigh Valley Health Network, and Main Line Health. Ultimately, enrollment is simple (it takes less than five minutes) and your claims can be viewed in an easy-to-access online portal.
GoodRx
Finally, a great way to reduce your health care expenses is to use GoodRx. You may have already heard of GoodRx or have seen some of their many television commercials. Essentially, GoodRx is a service that can help you find more affordable prescriptions. Because drug prices can significantly vary between pharmacies, GoodRx helps you find the lowest prices and discounts. And like AblePay Health, GoodRx is completely free. There are no fees and no obligations for practices or patients.
GoodRx is valuable for so many reasons, but one of the most prominent is its ease of use. As the company explains, there is a simple three-step process. First, you go to GoodRx’s website and compare prices for your specific medications. From there, you can print free coupons for those medications (you can also have those coupons sent to your phone via email or text message). Finally, you show your coupons to your pharmacist and receive massive savings on your medication.
The process is straightforward and essentially seamless. While you may have health insurance from your job, the health care marketplace, or through Medicare, you may not be able to get the prescription drugs that you need. GoodRx’s value proposition, among other things, is to help users find medication that is at a lower price than your insurance copay. GoodRx says that you can save up to 80% on your medications. This is because there are plenty of medications in the marketplace that are available for only a few dollars (or even for free). GoodRx can help you find those medications.
Similar to the other tools referenced above, you may be wondering how GoodRx can unlock these massive discounts for customers. GoodRx says that they make money from advertisements on its website and through referral fees. In the end, the company says that it has helped Americans save more than $20 billion on health care and prescription drugs. Even if you aren’t experiencing financial hardship in paying for your prescription drugs, it’s certainly worth your time to see how much you could save.
Start Saving Some Cash
The three resources described above can go a long way in helping make your health care more affordable. Whether you are looking for help paying for your glasses or need some relief paying for your prescription drugs, the resources above can get the job done.
Don’t hesitate to complete some further diligence. Visit these tools’ websites and see if they can help you lower your health care costs. Doing so, you will see that these tools can make your health care payments substantially less onerous.