--- title: How to Be an Educated Health Care Consumer description: With health care costs on the rise, it’s more important than ever to take responsibility for your medical care choices. Asking questions and researching image: https://blog.nisbenefits.com/hubfs/blog-headers/hc-consumer-b.jpg --- ![How to Be an Educated Health Care Consumer](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/hubfs/blog-headers/hc-consumer-b.jpg) # How to Be an Educated Health Care Consumer - Home - [Employee Benefit News for School, City and County Employers](https://blog.nisbenefits.com) - How to Be an Educated Health Care Consumer [ Mari Wagner ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/author/mari-wagner) 10/13/2022 [ Health Insurance Solutions](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/topic/health-insurance-solutions) [0 Comments ](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/how-to-be-an-educated-health-care-consumer#postComment) 1 Minutes *2 minute read* With health care costs on the rise, it’s more important than ever to take responsibility for your medical care choices. Asking questions and researching your options are good ways to start taking control of how much you spend on health care. Here are some strategies to take control of your health and be an educated consumer. **Consider your plan options. **It’s vital to make careful health care decisions to keep costs down. Control your out-of-pocket costs by reviewing your health insurance plan options and choosing the one that best fits your needs. **Ask your doctor. **Having a conversation with your doctor can help you to understand how their recommendations and care affect your health and plan costs. Ask about treatment costs, risks, side effects, and alternative options that may be equally effective but less costly. **Choose in-network providers when possible.** It’s typically less expensive to see a provider within your plan’s network. When choosing a plan, make sure you have access to doctors and hospitals you’ll want to visit when you need care. **Make careful decisions about your prescription. **Generic drugs have the same active ingredients, dosage form, strength, and route of administration as brand-name drugs. Choosing generic drugs over name-brand can provide you with some savings. **Seek outpatient care. **Sometimes outpatient care can be less expensive than inpatient care, without sacrificing the quality of care. Ask your doctor if laboratory tests can be done in a clinic instead of a hospital if you need surgery. **Review your bills. **Take a few minutes to read through your medical bills. Errors can occur in medical billing codes and coverage. This could save you money by catching potentially costly mistakes. Learning about your insurance and care options, choosing the best plan treatments, and reviewing medical bills to ensure the charges are correct can help you be an educated health care consumer. [Download the bulletin](https://blog.nisbenefits.com/hubfs/Blog%20-%20supporting%20documents/bulletin-educated-health-care-consumer.pdf) for more details. 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