The following article shares some good news for the uninsured. Some hospitals are offering the uninsured discounted rates. Historically, the uninsured have had to pay the highest rates as they lack the negotiating power of a large insurance company. (This is odd given the uninsured likely have less money than the insured, but that’s the health care market for you.) My guess is many providers have offered discounts for years for those that negotiate and clearly providers have had to write-off many services for those that simply cannot pay.

The article also notes not surprisingly that not all providers offer the same discounts and that one may have to ask for the discounted price to get it. Like other consumer markets, those that do their research can find a bigger deal for their health care. Unfortunately, price shopping in this industry is difficult and time consuming. It is challenging to call multiple providers to request prices and furthermore you do not always know if the same services are included at each provider.

HealDeal may be able to help. HealDeal offers pricing information from a growing list of providers and standardizes the services to help you shop for health care. Using HealDeal, you can go to one place to compare provider prices and locations, hours, languages spoken, etc. If you are paying out of your own pocket, do a little extra research on HealDeal to make sure you are not missing out on a discount.