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The best way to keep your health care costs down is by preventing problems before they start.

Staying healthy helps keeps health care costs low.
Exercising regularly, eating nutritious meals, and not smoking will help you create a healthy lifestyle for you and your family. Healthy habits prevent illness. Be a positive role model. Children who learn healthy habits when they are young are more likely to keep them up as they get older.

Check-ups catch problems before they become big...and expensive.
Regular check-ups can catch health problems before they become problems. While regular visits may seem expensive at the time, they are much cheaper than letting a medical problem go untreated!

Immunizations save money and time in the long run.
Becoming immunized against several scary and possibly life-threatening diseases is extremely important. Make sure your child gets all the vaccines she needs, and you should be sure to keep up with your own as well. Every time your child is sick, not only does she miss school, but you miss work. Include this with the savings from not having to buy medicine or visit the doctor, and it more than makes up for the price of the vaccine.

Go to the emergency room only for emergencies.
Emergency services can be much more expensive than care you will get at a doctor's office.

Be smart about your prescriptions.
Ask questions and learn the benefits and risks of your prescription medicine. Find out how the medicine will help you, if there is a generic or less expensive version of the drug that you can take, and whether you can try a sample first.

Know your options.
Do your research so you know possible options, their costs, and questions to ask.

Understand your health care plan.
Make sure you understand the way your health care plan works, which doctors and what services your plan covers, and how to file claims. This will help you avoid unexpected expenses.

For more tips on keeping healthcare costs low, please visit the Humana web site at http://www.humana.com/Employers/smallbiz/tips.asp.