Rising Health Costs, Soaring Drug Prices, Confusing Bills! What’s A Consumer To Do?

What should you do when you get a four-figure hospital bill? Are there any simple ways to bring down health costs?

Kaiser Health News correspondent Shefali Luthra tackled these and other questions in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” chat on Friday. The takeaways: Health care prices are part of a complex, confusing system — and for consumers, the best option can be to demand transparency about medical prices, and negotiate to bring down expenses.

To see the full chat — a thread with more than 200 comments — click here.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Rising Health Costs, Soaring Drug Prices, Confusing Bills! What’s A Consumer To Do?</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2018-03-09T13:46:56-08:00">
			March 9, 2018		</time>
		</div>
<p>What should you do when you get a four-figure hospital bill? Are there any simple ways to bring down health costs?</p><p>Kaiser Health News correspondent Shefali Luthra tackled these and other questions in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” chat on Friday. The takeaways: Health care prices are part of a complex, confusing system — and for consumers, the best option can be to demand transparency about medical prices, and negotiate to bring down expenses.</p><p>To see the full chat — a thread with more than 200 comments — <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/837hlt/the_hospital_says_you_should_take_out_a_loan_to/">click here</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/rising-health-costs-soaring-drug-prices-confusing-bills-whats-a-consumer-to-do/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/rising-health-costs-soaring-drug-prices-confusing-bills-whats-a-consumer-to-do/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/rising-health-costs-soaring-drug-prices-confusing-bills-whats-a-consumer-to-do/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Rising%20Health%20Costs%2C%20Soaring%20Drug%20Prices%2C%20Confusing%20Bills%21%20What%E2%80%99s%20A%20Consumer%20To%20Do%3F&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2FMjcxMzc5&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/rising-health-costs-soaring-drug-prices-confusing-bills-whats-a-consumer-to-do/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/rising-health-costs-soaring-drug-prices-confusing-bills-whats-a-consumer-to-do/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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