Been hit with medical bills? We have. Although we're in good health, it seems like we've been hit pretty hard over the past few years. Here are some things I've learned to try to hang on to some of our money.

1. Stay away from the plastic. So many people think credit cards are for emergencies. Try this next time you have an emergency: Don't have a credit card. It forces the other parties to deal with you. When we called the hospital to try to negotiate some new payment terms, the first question they asked was, "Do you have a credit card you can pay this with?" "No. Why would I trade my hospital debt to credit card debt? "To get charged high interest," is not a good answer.

2. Question the charges. You may be getting billed for the wrong things. Input errors can mess things up. Or the prices may be too high.

3. Ask for a discount. We've used an out-of-network doctor in the past who let us pay a discounted rate similar to what they would have been paid through an insurance company.

4. Ask for a payment plan. Usually there is not an extra fee to do this and you can pay off your medical debt in installments as you have the money. Add this to your budget and it's like paying off a credit card debt, but without the extra finance charges.

5. Get it in writing. If you are able to negotiate any new prices or terms, ask the doctor/hospital to mail or fax confirmation. Or send them a letter with the new terms, and ask them to sign and send back to you.

6. Switch doctors when necessary. They are healers and life savers, but at the end of the day, medicine is a business in a capitalist market with lots of competitors. We had a great pediatrician that we had to quit using because they billed $120 for "surgery" at every checkup for 10-second ear wax removal. This was on top of the regular co-pay. Insurance paid some and passed the rest to us. We never asked for this service, nor were we told it would cost more. After a few visits, whether wax or not, we said no more and told the front office we weren't paying that charge any more. They were playing an insurance game to get the maximum allowable charge for everything written in the chart by the doctor. They refused to let us speak to the doctor about it and refused to drop the bill, so we switched providers.

Photo: © Carlos Paes, wax115@morguefile.com