I have a high deductible healthcare plan and found out I needed an MRI earlier this year for a ski injury. Using the Regence Blue Cross / Shield healthsparq.com tool, the $1,011 from IHC looked OK. That's where I got the MRI.
Not a good choice. Yesterday I discovered New Choice Health. They found a local imaging center for $411. That's $600 out of pocket I lost. (Ok Copay is another option for research).
An X-ray, CT scan or MRI all yield the same result regardless of where you get them. And they hand you a DVD that you can give to your doctor.
Drug prescriptions are another place where you can save. Consumer Reports found a price difference of up to 10x for the identical drug in the same region (spoiler alert: Costco was the cheapest and you don't have to be a member to use them). GoodRX does a great job of comparing prices in your neighborhood.
In many cases paying cash for drugs will be less than your insurance co-pay. And if you have an HSA insurance plan, you can use your HSA credit card to pay for them!
It's your money. Take a minute to do some research and you can save hundreds of dollars a year.
