It’s no small feat staying in the black with your money these days. Your personal finance news can often be a grim and disappointing affair, and one of the major reasons is the money everyone seems to be spending on health care these days. With the whole world doing a shift to PPOs, there are quite a few people paying money they weren’t ready for.  However, if you are feeling overwhelmed with health care costs, you may not be as bad off as you think.

When you go and see your doctor or have a procedure done, your doctor bills your insurance and then they send you a bill.  This bill tells you exactly what they are willing to cover and how much you will need to come up with yourself. Most people believe the game ends here, but the reality of it is that the game is just beginning. There is a lot more to do.

The first thing you should be doing is resubmitting the bill to your insurance. You can do this multiple times, and often times a phone call explaining why you, as the patient, needed the medical service can get them to pick up a bigger portion. They will have their limits, but you need to make sure you are pushing them there.

The other thing you should keep in mind is that an insurance company can bill you whatever they want, but you only have to pay to a certain point. If you look at your plan, you are required to pay up to a certain out of pocket limit but nothing beyond that. So, if they have asked you to pay $3,000 but your limit is $2,000, then you are in the clear for the remainder.