Paying Cash is Often the Cheapest Way to Get Healthcare

Healthcare premiums and deductibles keep going up for the patients.

Reimbursement rates keep dropping for the medical practitioners.

These leads to a bad scenario for both.

The patient ends up paying a ton for insurance, with astronomical copays or deductibles. And the patient gets worse care because the providers have to see more clients to make up for their loss in revenue from the insurance reimbursement decrease.

Plus, how many times have you paid a small copay only to get stuck with a huge bill months later for a service that was supposed to be covered?

With this predicament , the best option is often to pay cash.

A recent article expands on this:

“As consumers get savvier about shopping for health care, some are finding a curious trend: More hospitals, imaging centers, outpatient surgery centers and pharmacy chains will give them deep discounts if they pay cash instead of using insurance.”

When Nancy Surdoval, a retired lawyer, needed a knee X-ray last year, Boulder Community Hospital in Colorado said it would cost her $600, out of pocket, using her high-deductible insurance, or just $70 if she paid cash upfront.”

I’ve seen this again and again as both a patient and a provider.

When I worked in a busy outpatients clinic I saw many patients that had $70 copays. They wanted people to come 3x/week for 12 weeks.

That’s over $2520 for generic, mass produced PT.

We rarely see people more than 1x/week. And they get better quicker, so the duration of care isn’t nearly as long.

Even without packages, this would be likely less than $500 for a plan of care

$2000 cheaper than the big box PT places

Maximize Your Push-Up

Some of the main faults of a push-up:

• Poor elbow positioning

• Lumbar lag

• Compensatory hip flexion

• Segmental movement

• Using Momentum

• Disconnected synergistic muscles

This can all be corrected simply by viewing the push up as a dynamic plank.

Make the Side Plank More Effective

Planks are a traditional standard exercise for core strength.

Specifically, the side planks will strengthen the lateral plane. A plane of motion that needs to be stable to allow compensatory-free movement. A plane of motion most people are weak in.

Thus, the side plank is a great exercise to add into your routine.

It’s not a pleasant one, but a necessary one.

Here is a quick video on how to make it more effective.