[DanielBMarkham]

I've been doing this for years.

Need medicine for high cholesterol? Doc prescribes $100-a-month latest whiz-bang pill. Say to doc, "Dude, can't you do better than that?"

Get a $10-a-month pill from Wal-Mart that works just as well.

It's a real eye-opener. Businesses will charge anything as long as the customer doesn't actually have to write a check for it.

EDIT: Since many of you haven't experienced this, I'll share another story.

I tell the doc I have sleep apnea and would like to try a CPAP machine. He says first I need sleep study, which is around $2K. Why? Well because the new insurance guidelines say you should have one. So we talk a bit, and it becomes clear that it's not needed. Cross out $2K.

So he writes a prescription and sends me to a place in town that sells the machines. Cost? $1600. Price for same machine on the net? $350.00

I call the doc back and he faxes the prescription to the internet vendor and Bob's your uncle.

This is about $3500.00 that 99% of everybody else would have had their insurance pay that wasn't strictly necessary.

Negotiating your own healthcare prices is a terrific eye-opener.

[carbocation]

I would like to have a proactive patient such as your self. As a student, I am always put off when a physician prescribes an on-patent medication when there is an equivalent that is off-patent (assuming that the research supporting both is equivalent).

[DanielBMarkham]

Hope I didn't give the wrong impression -- my doc rocks. He's just a busy guy, and the drug companies are making pitches all day long about how the new and patent-protected stuff is so much better than the other stuff. He's just playing it safe. He's always open to a conversation, however, and most times once we talk we arrive at a better place than the one he first recommends.

And I'm not being a "proactive patient" out of any kind of charity on my part. My money rides on all of this stuff, and every little bit is very important. I'm just trying to make very certain that each little thing we do is priced at exactly the least amount is has to be.

[There might be a lesson here, but I refuse to spell it out.]