Power to Help Cut Your Health Care Costs

Health care costs are rising about 6 percent annually (health insurance premiums are increasing more!). This is true for those who have health insurance as well as the uninsured. The right kind of care at the right place can have a big impact on your bill.

* An unnecessary visit to an emergency room could cost eight times more than going to a doctor's office.
* Fifty percent of visits to the emergency room are unnecessary and patients could have been treated at a doctor's office.
* The average charge at the emergency room is $1,024.
* This drops to $194 at the urgent care center, and all the way to $140 at the doctor's office.

Informed patients save money and time by making better decisions. However, deciding when and where to go for care can be challenging. Ideally, you want to select the most inexpensive location that is also qualified to treat your problems.

There is a Web site that helps answer these important questions for free: www.freemd.com. FreeMD is a free service, written by doctors, that helps you make important health decisions. It is powered by a revolutionary computer program that analyzes more than 3,000 symptoms and injuries, across all age groups. FreeMD will provide you with answers to the following questions:

* What might be causing your symptoms?
* When should you see a doctor?
* Where should you seek care?
* What kind of a doctor should you see?
* What should you do to care for yourself?

At FreeMD.com, consumers visit a virtual doctor, who asks questions and pinpoints the problem. FreeMD explains what treatment is required and where to get it: an emergency room, an urgent care center, or a doctor's office. When possible, FreeMD provides instructions on how to treat a problem at home.

Remember, $1,024 for an emergency room visit or $194 at urgent care. The choice is yours and there are tools to help you make an informed choice.