Here are articles from our Prepared Patient feature series about paying for health care. These articles are based on interviews with experts and people around the country about some of their experiences choosing health insurance, applying for coverage, understanding insurance benefits and tracking medical expenses.

In the right column, Prepared Patient 411 offers online, phone and community resources to assist you. And in Related Research, we share the most current scientific research in brief news stories.

We invite you to share your own experiences paying for health care. You can post a reply to any of our featured articles, blogs and news stories.

Young Adults Taking the Health Care Reins Comic-book writer Len Ward faces the day-to-day struggles of a young freelancer: uncertain work and low pay. And, like many others in his shoes, he has no health insurance. A survivor of a rare childhood heart disease, he sometimes sees a pediatric cardiologist, but has never had a regular "adult" health care provider. Taking on your own health care is part of becoming an adult, but the transition can be rocky. And today's weak economy and tight job market makes it even tougher. READ MORE
Coping With the High Costs of Prescriptions Cost-cutting measures are creeping into the medicine cabinet. We split pills in half or take the drugs every other day to stretch our doses. We stop filling the prescriptions for our most expensive drugs. We buy prescriptions from online pharmacies with questionable credentials. As patients pay more for their prescription drugs — whether it's through higher insurance co-pays or shouldering the full costs — many people decide to opt out of taking the drugs altogether. But there are safer ways to cut costs than skimping on — or skipping — the medicines you need. READ MORE

 

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