First, keep healthy. A healthy lifestyle, exercise, good diet, and not smoking can improve your health and reduce your risk of disease while also reducing your health care costs. A recent study showed that people who ate a better diet spent less on health care than people who ate a poor diet. Smokers had a 31% greater annual cost in health care than non-smokers.

Second, purchase generic drugs. Drug costs are the highest percentage costs in health care today. Generic drugs are the equivalent of the brand name drug. The cost of generic drugs can be up to 60% less than the brand name drug.

Third, use urgent care centers rather than going to the emergency room. Urgent care centers cost less than hospital emergency room visits and are generally more expedient and provide comparable care. Of course some situations may require a visit to the emergency room such as acute chest pain that may signal a heart attack.

Fourth, compare costs for surgical and diagnostic procedures. Many freestanding centers are far less expensive than the large network providers. Be a good consumer and compare service and quality not just price.

Fifth, set up a Health Care Spending Account. (HSA) Health care spending accounts allow you to set aside pretax dollars to use on health care items like prescription drugs, co-payments, and other medical expenses. Because the money is not taxed it is like getting a percentage discount for your health care spending.