health costs

One of the most costly mistakes people make when it comes to medical care is assuming that using your health insurance -- if you're lucky enough to have it -- is always the best way to go. But there are times when it may just be cheaper to negotiate with your doctors and pay out of pocket.

When it comes to flexible spending accounts (FSAs), you use it or lose it. That's meant the 30 million Americans who have paid into their FSAs have left about $450 million of tax-free money unclaimed by the time the deadline rolls around, according to Jeremy Miller, founder and president of...

Spending on health care is projected to rise from 16% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 to 37% by 2050 and 49% by 2082. In other words, if allowed to grow uncontrolled, health care will eat up half of everyone's spending money by 2082. Federal spending on health care also will grow to...

The onset of H1N1 flu season and the coming health-care reforms are putting health insurers -- and their latest quarterly reports -- in the spotlight. With the exception of Aetna (AET), most insurers' shares have dropped as investors worry about potential fallout of reform and from rising swine...

It seems not all industries are suffering from the recession. Even though Americans are paying less on everything from hotel rooms to holiday gifts, and small businesses are fighting to hang on to their dwindling credit, the recession-inspired rollback theme hasn't quite made it to the long-term...

Health care reform means more than wonk talk to Jeremiah Hansen Hansen, 28, has no health insurance. He worked for years as a waiter, but the restaurant didn't provide coverage, and he couldn't afford a policy on his own pay as a waiter. Then, in 2007, Hansen was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes....

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's first family of personal finance, answer your questions every Friday. Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question. Medical costs in the U.S. are still skyrocketing, topping more than $8,000 a year per person. In fact, a recent study showed 60% of all bankruptcies...

As if it's not bad enough that many Americans have lost jobs and retirement money to the recession, many of them are getting fatter, too. According to a Gallup-Healthways poll, the number of people in the U.S. who tip the scales as obese rose 1.7%, or 5.5 million, in the past year. In the first...

Medical costs can destroy the best-laid future plans. That's why I find the yearly health of the nation report by the CDC so useful. It clarifies trends and expectations, helping me plan my insurance needs. For example, here are some snippets from the comprehensive report: We spent $2...