The health care decisions you make have a big impact on your life and your wallet.

Although you may not be able to avoid a hospital stay, there are ways to trim the expenses.

It's important to reduce your medical expenses. Even if you have health insurance, you pay a percentage of every health care bill you incur.

The most effective way to lower your dental bills is to take care of your teeth, and to make sure your children do the same.

The American health care system—a complex union of insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, and drug manufacturers—doesn’t provide consumers with many price breaks. But learning a few tricks can help you, in some cases, get something for nothing.

If your doctor recommends that you have surgery or a medical procedure, taking time to research hospitals in your community to compare costs, care quality, infection control and other concerns can provide peace of mind.

A deduction is allowed for expenses paid for the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a physical or mental illness.

Taking time to understand your health insurance plan can improve the care you receive and reduce your costs.

Here are strategies from the Food and Drug Administration to help you cut your prescription costs by 50 percent or more.

No one likes unexpected expenses. But you have more control over your health care costs than you may think.

Here are common problems you may run into as a health care consumer, with tips for wise responses.

Every year, more than 400 million prescriptions are filled with generic medications in the United States.

Fees for specialists are almost always higher than those charged by health care providers, even when the same procedure is performed. Knowing how to find a specialist and work with him or her properly can help control your costs.

Here are strategies that can keep you as healthy as possible without shelling out more than necessary for copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance.

Caring parents can do a lot to help limit visits to the doctor or emergency room—and trim their out-of-pocket health costs.

Hospitalizations account for more than half of all health care costs, so avoiding surgery is one of the best ways to reduce your medical expenses.

Health care costs continue to rise, but you can take steps to keep them under control. The following suggestions from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality can help.

Prices can vary widely for similar or identical treatments — and there may be a lot you can do to limit what you pay out of pocket.