ABC Toy Company Health Tip Sheets for Employees
[NOTE: delete or replace this placeholder logo and company name]
[NOTE: text that follows is a placeholder
that you will need to adapt or delete]
This document is part of a series of
information resources to help you get
good quality health care. For more
resources, visit your employee website
employees.com/healthinfo/
[NOTE: the two paragraphs below and the text inside the colored box tell about the fictional ABC Toy Company.
This section is a placeholder that shows where you can customize this document for your own organization. You
will need to replace this section with your own information or delete it.]
Making wise use of money
Health care is a crucial benefit for you and all of our employees. Good quality, affordable
health care is important to you and it’s important to ABC Toy Company.
Did you know . . .
On average, ABC Toy Company employees pay only 15% of the cost
of their health care. The company pays the rest.
As a company, we spend more on employees’ health care than we do for the raw
materials we use to make our line of preschool toys.
ABC Toy Company wants to keep offering good health care coverage without big
increases in your premiums or out-of-pocket costs. To do this, we need your help. We are
asking you to join with ABC Toy Company in putting quality first to help keep health
care spending under control.
Why put quality first?
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Good quality care is good for you and a wise use of money spent on health care.
Good quality care helps you stay as healthy as possible and it helps you recover more
fully and more quickly when you are ill or injured.
Spending money on poor quality care hurts you and it hurts the company. Poor
quality care includes not being able to get the care you need, not getting the care that
works best for your condition, or being given the wrong kind of care. Poor quality care
can be harmful to your health. Poor quality care can lead to more serious health
problems that cost more to treat.
Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let’s put quality first
2
What is “good quality” care?
“Good quality” care means that:
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You get your care from skilled and knowledgeable health professionals who
communicate clearly and involve you in decisions about your care.
You are given the type of care that medical research has shown to work best for your
condition.
Your care is safe and timely.
You are able to get as much care as you need (but no unnecessary care).
But doesn’t everyone get good quality care?
No – unfortunately, everyone does not get good quality care. While it may surprise you, it’s
true that there are big variations in the quality of health care.
Medical experts have done careful studies that measure the quality of care given to all types
of people in all parts of our country. They have found that a good deal of health care does
not measure up to quality standards – and that includes care given to people right here in
our own area as well as in other parts of the country.
For example, studies have shown that:
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Many patients are not given the type of treatment that research has shown to work best
for their condition. Instead, they are given other care that doesn’t work as well.
Many patients are not able to get the care they need, or there are delays in getting care
they need.
Many patients are given care that is unsafe, such as being given the wrong medicine.
Studies show that most medical mistakes can be prevented.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The document it
refers to is available to you as part of the Toolkit.] For more on this topic of
variations in quality of care, look for this tip sheet at the employee
website (employees.com/healthinfo):
 “Good quality health care: what it is and why you can’t take
it for granted.”
Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let’s put quality first
3
What is ABC Toy Company doing to put quality first?
[NOTE: this section about ABC Toy Company is a placeholder to show where you can insert information about your
own organization. You will need to either adapt or delete the heading above and the paragraph with bulleted points
immediately below.] ABC Toy Company is working hard to help ensure the quality of your care and
to make wise use of money spent on health care for you and other employees. Here is what we
are doing to help keep health care spending under control while safeguarding the quality of care
you receive:
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We are working with the health plans that provide your care to make sure they
are giving you good quality care. Insisting on good quality care will help safeguard
your health. It will also help keep you and the company from wasting money on poor
quality care.

We get detailed reports from each health plan that show how they are doing on
meeting standards for quality care.

When we see a problem area, we insist that the health plan develop a quality
improvement program and report to us on the progress they are making.
We are working with our health plans to be sure that they are doing their
part to keep the cost of care as reasonable as possible.
What can you do to put quality first?
Because there are big variations in quality of care, it’s clear that getting good quality care
doesn’t happen automatically. Below are six tips on how you can help make sure that you
and your family get good quality care:
To help make sure you get good quality care, you need to find and use information about
quality of care. You also need to play an active part in all the decisions that affect your
health.
The website of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality has many helpful resources including “Guide to Health
Care Quality: How to Know It When You See It”
(http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/guidetoq/index.html#Contents).
Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let’s put quality first
4
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the following text that refers to
materials on the ABC Toy Company website. These materials that are listed
are available to you as part of the Toolkit to put on your own website or make
available to employees in other ways] Your ABC Toy Company
(continued)
employee website (employees.com/healthinfo) has many tip
sheets and resources to help you put quality first and to make wise
use of money spent on health care. These include:
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“To get better health care, be informed and involved.”
“Summary of tips for getting good quality health care
before, during, and after a health care appointment.”
“Information about health care quality: what it is and
where to find it.”
“How you can use information about health care quality to
get better care: Seven examples.”
“Finding health information on the internet: Tips for
knowing which websites to trust.”
“A list of recommended websites that have trustworthy
health information.”
To help make sure you get the care that works best for your condition, you can ask questions
when you see your doctor or other health provider. Ask for information about your treatment
choices and ask whether any research has been done to find out which treatments work best.
You can also look for more information on your own.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The documents it
refers to are available to you as part of the Toolkit.] Look for these
resources at the employee website (employees.com/healthinfo):
 “How do we know which types of health care work best?”
 “Tips for getting care that works best for your condition.”
Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let’s put quality first
5
Getting the “right amount” of care means that you are able to get as much care as you need,
but only as much as you need. Getting the right amount of care is important for your health
and important for making wise use of money spent on health care.
 Getting less care than you need is not good for your health.
 More care is not necessarily better care. If you are given extra care that you don’t
really need, it is a waste of your time, a poor use of resources, and it can sometimes
be harmful to your health.
What really counts is whether you are able to get as much as you need of the right kind
of care. The right kind of care is the care that works best, based on results from medical
research. To help make sure you are getting as much as you need of the right kind of care,
ask questions when tests and treatment are recommended for you. You can also look for
more information on your own.
For tips on how and why to ask questions of your doctor or
other health care provider, visit this website run by the federal
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: “Questions are
the answer” (http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/). It
includes a checklist of questions to ask in different situations.
You can customize and print your own list of questions to take
with you to a medical visit.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The document
it refers to is available to you as part of the Toolkit] Look for this tip
sheet on the employee website (employees.com/healthinfo):
 “Tips for getting the right amount of care (as much care
as you need, but no unnecessary care).”
When you are making a treatment decision, be sure to ask about the risks as well as the
benefits of each treatment choice. Also, be aware that patient care is not always perfect and
mistakes are sometimes made. Mistakes are bad for patients and they waste an enormous
amount of money. To help make sure that your care is as safe as possible, find out what you
can do to help prevent medical mistakes.
Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let’s put quality first
6
Here are resources with tips on what you can do to help prevent
medication mistakes:
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Websites run by the National Council on Patient
Information and Education: www.talkaboutrx.org and
www.bemedwise.org
A patient guide called Your Medicine: Play It Safe at the
website of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/safemeds.htm)
Delays in getting care can lead to more serious health problems that are more difficult and
more costly to treat.
 Since you are the one who usually decides when it’s time to get care, do your best to
get care as soon as you think you need it.
 To help catch any health problems at an early stage, stay up to date on your screening
tests and other preventive care.
The government has created guides for women and men that tell
what preventive care you need, depending on your age. You can
find these guides called “Stay Healthy at Any Age, Your
Checklist for Health” at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ppipix.htm.
To stay as healthy as possible, make wise lifestyle choices. This means doing your best to
eat healthy food, stay physically active, keep a healthy weight, and stay tobacco-free.
If you have a treatment plan to help recover from illness or injury, be sure to follow it. If
you have an ongoing health condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart
disease, diabetes, or asthma, find out what you need to do to manage this condition.
Making wise use of money spent on health care: Let’s put quality first
7
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The material
it refers to is available to you as part of the Toolkit] Look for this
resource at the employee website (employees.com/healthinfo):

“Tips for following through on treatment and
managing your health.”
If you use tobacco, there is a lot of help and support available
to help you quit for good – and it’s covered by your health
insurance. For details, [NOTE: this text is a placeholder to show where
you might want to customize this document for your own organization. You
will need to either insert information here about tobacco cessation
resources or delete this whole reference to tobacco use.]
Let’s work together on putting quality first
[NOTE: the next paragraph makes references to ABC Toy Company. You will need to adapt or delete this
paragraph.] When you seek out and insist upon getting good quality care, you will be doing
the
best you can for your health. By putting quality first, you will also be making wise use of
money spent on health care. This includes both the money you spend out of your own pocket
and the money ABC Toy Company spends on your health care as part of your benefits package.
Wise use of money spent on health care by each and every employee will help keep the
company’s health care spending under control. If we can keep health care spending under
control, then ABC Toy Company can keep offering good health care coverage without large
increases in premiums or out-of-pocket costs. So, let’s all work together on putting quality first.
ABC Toy Company Health Tip Sheets for Employees
[NOTE: delete or replace this placeholder logo and company name]
[NOTE: text that follows is a placeholder
that you will need to adapt or delete]
This document is part of a series of
information resources to help you get
good quality health care. For more
resources, visit your employee website
employees.com/healthinfo/
Getting good quality care – why you can’t take it for granted
While we’d like to think that all health care is good quality care, there are actually big variations
in the quality of care. Medical experts have done careful studies that measure the quality of care
given to all types of people in all parts of our country, including our own area. They have found
that a good deal of health care does not measure up to quality standards. They found many
types of problems. For example:
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Some people do not get the types of tests and treatments that research has shown to
work best for their condition. Instead, they are given tests or treatments that do not
work as well.
Some people cannot get the care they need or have delays in getting care that cause
harm to their health.
Some hospital patients develop new illnesses while they are in the hospital because
the hospital has poor infection control.
Sometimes mistakes are made, such as giving patients the wrong medicine.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The documents it
refers to are available to you as part of the Toolkit. You can put these materials
on your own website or make them available to employees in other ways.]
For more about quality problems and studies of patient care, look
for the following tip sheets at the employee website
(employees.com/healthinfo):


“Good quality health care: What it is and why you can’t
take it for granted.”
“How do we know what types of health care work best?”
To get better health care, be informed and involved
2
What can you do to safeguard the quality of your care?
To help make sure that you and your family get good quality care, you need to be informed
and actively involved. Below are some tips to help:
You want your doctors and other health care providers to be skilled and knowledgeable, of
course. But that’s not enough –they should also be good at communicating with you. Do
they listen carefully and explain things in a way that you can understand? Do they take your
values and preferences into account and involve you in making decisions that affect your
health? Do they spend enough time with you and make you feel comfortable about asking
questions?
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The tip sheet
it mentions is available to you as part of the Toolkit]
Look for this tip sheet at the employee website
(employees.com/healthinfo):

“How you can use information about health care
quality to get better care: Seven examples.”
The last two examples in this tip sheet are about choosing a
new health care provider. These examples tell where to find
information on a doctor’s qualifications. They also tell about
national reports with information to help you make quality
comparisons of hospitals and other health care organizations.
Many types of information about health care quality have been written for patients. This
information will help you understand what is meant by good quality care and help you make
quality comparisons. Using this information can help you stay healthy and help you make
good decisions about treatment if you get sick.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The materials
it refers to are available to you as part of the Toolkit] Look for these
resources at the employee website (employees.com/healthinfo):

“Information about health care quality: what it is and
where to find it.”
To get better health care, be informed and involved


(continued)
3
“Health information on the internet: A checklist to
help you judge which websites to trust.”
“A list of recommended websites that have
trustworthy health information.”
It’s your body, and you have the right and responsibility to understand your health
conditions and treatment choices. This includes asking questions and participating in all
decisions.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the text that follows. The
materials it refers to are available to you as part of the Toolkit]
Look for these resources at the employee website
(employees.com/healthinfo):


“Tips for what to do during your health care
appointment.”
“Tips for following through on treatment and
managing your health.”
Medical care often has some risks as well as benefits. When you are facing a decision
about your health care, you will need information that helps you make an informed
choice. Ask your doctor whether there has been any scientific research on the risks and
benefits of your treatment choices.
A government publication called Next Steps After Your
Diagnosis: Finding Information and Support provides
general advice as well as tips and resources to help you
learn more about your specific condition and how it can
be treated. It was written by the federal Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality
(www.ahrq.gov/consumer/diaginfo.htm).
To get better health care, be informed and involved
4
Medication mistakes are common, but there are many things you can do to help prevent
them. Here are some safety tips:
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Give your doctors and other health professionals the information they need to give
you medicines that are safe for you. Be sure they know about everything you are
currently taking. This includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins,
and herbal supplements that you use. If a doctor prescribes a new medicine, ask if it is
safe to use with your other medicines. If you are pregnant or nursing a baby, your doctor
needs to know. If you have bad reactions or allergies to any medications, remind the
doctor and pharmacist every time you get a new prescription.
Be sure that you know the purpose of the medicine. Ask your doctor or other health
professional to explain what the medicine is for and how it will help you.
When you pick up a prescription, check it carefully. Is it what you were expecting? If
it’s a refill, does it look exactly the same as the medicine you had before? If something
seems wrong, ask the pharmacist to double check it. Most errors are first found by
patients.
Be sure that you understand how to use your medicines correctly. Read the
directions on the label and other information you get with your medicine. Have the
pharmacist or doctor explain anything you do not understand. Ask what side effects you
might have and which might be serious. Ask whether there other medicines, foods, or
activities (such as driving or drinking alcohol) that you should avoid while using the
medicine.
Follow the directions for taking your medicine. Sometimes people want to stop taking
their medicine as soon as they start feeling better, but this can sometimes be harmful.
Check with your doctor before making any changes in taking your medicine.
Call your doctor if your condition gets worse or if you have any concerns about your
medication or side effects.
These resources have more tips on safe use of medications:
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Websites run by the National Council on Patient Information
and Education: www.talkaboutrx.org and www.bemedwise.org.
A patient guide called Your Medicine: Play It Safe at the
website of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/safemeds.htm).
ABC Toy Company Health Tip Sheets for Employees
[NOTE: delete or replace this placeholder logo and company name]
[NOTE: text that follows is a placeholder
that you will need to adapt or delete]
This document is part of a series of
information resources to help you get
good quality health care. For more
resources, visit your employee
website employees.com/healthinfo/
Getting the care that is known to work best
is part of good quality care
Each patient is different, but scientific research on patient care has shown that some types of
care tend to get better results than others. When there is medical evidence from research that
tells what care works best for your condition, then using that evidence is part of “good quality”
care.
But doesn’t everyone get the care that works best?
No. Many scientific studies of patient care have shown that patients do not always get the care
that is known to work the best for their condition. For example, an article in the New England
Journal of Medicine tells how researchers recently studied the health care received by children
in 12 communities in the United States over a four-year period
(http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/15/1515). Most of the children were from middleincome families with health insurance.
Researchers interviewed the parents and reviewed the children’s medical records. When they
checked to see whether the care the children had been given met nationally accepted
standards for good quality care, they found that often it did not. Here are examples:
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Only 19% of seriously ill infants with fevers had the right lab tests done.
Only about 46% of children with asthma were on the right medications.
Only 31% of children ages 3-6 had their weight measured at checkups.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the paragraph that follows. The
tip sheet it refers to is available to you as part of the Toolkit. You can put
it on your own website or make it available to employees in other ways.]
For more about how patient care has been studied and the
quality problems that have been found, look for the
following tip sheet at the employee website
(employees.com/healthinfo): “Good quality health care:
What it is and why you can’t take it for granted.”
Tips for getting the care that works best for your condition
2
What can you do to help make sure you are getting
the care that works best?
When your doctor or other health provider recommends a particular treatment, ask what
research has been done on that treatment and what the research results might mean for you.
You can also ask whether there are other choices to consider, and whether research has been
done to find out which treatment works best.
Research studies can be complicated and hard to explain. If you ask about research and the
answer you get is too technical, you can say, “would you please tell me that again using
different words?”
Websites can be a great way to find information that tells about specific health conditions
and which types of tests and treatments tend to work the best. The internet has thousands
of websites that give health information and opinions, but many are not trustworthy. To
find reliable and up-to-date information that is based on solid medical research, you must
choose your websites carefully.
When you find health information on your own, you may want to bring it to a medical
visit to discuss with your doctor or other health provider.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the sentence that follows and the
four bulleted points under it. The documents listed in the bulleted points are
available to you as part of the Toolkit.] Look for these tip sheets at
the employee website (employees.com/healthinfo):
 “How do we know what types of health care work best?”
 “Information about health care quality: what it is and
where to find it.”
 “Finding health information on the internet: Tips for
knowing which websites to trust.”
 “A list of recommended websites that have
trustworthy health information.”
Tips for getting the care that works best for your condition
3
Getting the care that works best is good for your
health and makes wise use of resources
When there is a particular treatment that research has shown to work best for your condition,
it makes good sense to use it – good sense for your health and good sense for wise use of time
and money spent on health care.
[NOTE: if you want to include the sample photo shown below in your own materials, see the easy instructions and
rules that apply to photo use in the “How to use the materials” section of the Toolkit website.]
“When I injured my back, my doctor went over the research
on different treatments and how well they work. For my
kind of injury, the research said that physical therapy and
medication usually work just as well or better than surgery.
I was happy to hear it. I didn’t want a back operation
unless I really needed it. It takes so long to recover plus,
with any operation, there’s always some risk.
If I had needed the surgery, my insurance would have
covered it and that’s good to know. But then, even if I’m
not paying, why waste money on a treatment that costs
more and doesn’t work any better?”
The best type of treatment for your condition might cost less than other types of care that
don’t work as well. Sometimes good quality care does cost more, but often it does not. And just
because care costs a lot does not make it good quality care.

Keep in mind that the cost of getting poor quality care can be very high –
sometimes far higher than the cost of getting good quality care.

For example, suppose that instead of getting the treatment that works best, you
are given a different treatment that doesn’t work very well. Since the treatment
doesn’t work very well, your health problem might get worse. In the end, the
problem might cost much more to treat.

When mistakes are made in medical care, the cost of extra care that is needed to
fix a medical mistake can be very expensive.

Also, poor care includes being given care that you don’t really need, and the
cost of unnecessary tests and treatment can be very high.
ABC Toy Company Health Tip Sheets for Employees
[NOTE: delete or replace this placeholder logo and company name]
[NOTE: text that follows is a placeholder
that you will need to adapt or delete]
This document is part of a series of
information resources to help you get
good quality health care. For more
resources, visit your employee website
employees.com/healthinfo/
What is the “right amount” of care?
Getting the “right amount” of health care means that you are getting as much care as you need,
but no unnecessary care. Unnecessary care is care that you don’t really need. Here are some
examples:
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
Having lab tests done when you need them is the “right amount” of care. Repeating the
same lab tests when you see a different doctor – instead of just using the test results you
already have – would be unnecessary care.
Getting antibiotics for an infection that is helped by antibiotics is the “right amount” of
care. Getting antibiotics for an infection that is not helped by antibiotics – such as the
common cold – would be unnecessary care.
Staying on schedule with the preventive care and screening tests that are recommended
for your age and health condition is the “right amount” of care. Having preventive care
and screening tests more often than recommended would be unnecessary care.
Getting the right amount of care is part of good quality health
care and wise use of resources
Getting the right amount of care – not too little and not too much – is best for your health. It
also makes wise use of time and money spent on health care.

Getting as much care as you need is crucial for good health. If you can’t or don’t get
as much care as you need, it can lead to more serious health conditions that are harder to
treat successfully and may also cost more to treat. If you develop health problems
because you didn’t get the care you needed, it’s not good for your health and it’s not a
wise use of money spent on health care.
Tips for getting the care that works best for your condition
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2
Getting more care than you really need is not good for your health.

Getting care you don’t need can take time away from other things you could be
doing. It can be hard on you and your family, adding unnecessary stress to your
life.

Getting care you don’t need can even be harmful to your health. For example,
studies show that some surgery that is done is not really necessary. Evidence from
research on patient care shows that, for some conditions, treatments that are
simpler and less risky than surgery actually work better. If you don’t need a certain
type of treatment, why expose yourself to risks that might be part of that treatment?
Getting care you don’t need also adds to the cost. [NOTE: you may want to adapt the text
in this paragraph that refers to employees and the company.] Whether the money comes out of
your own pocket or is paid for by your health benefits, it is not a wise use of resources
to spend money on care that isn’t needed. When employees are given care they don’t
need, the cost can add up quickly for the company as a whole. This can lead to higher
premiums, reductions in coverage, or higher out-of-pocket costs in the future.
What can you do to help make sure you are
getting the “right amount” of care?
How can you know whether you and your family are getting the right amount of care – not too
little, not too much – but just right? Here are some tips:
[NOTE: if applicable, you may want to include specific information about help lines available to your
employees.] If you think you might need care but you are not sure, you can call the “advice
nurse” or “medical help line” at your doctor’s office or health plan. Talking with the
advice nurse can help you decide whether you need to come in for care and how soon you
need to be seen. Sometimes you will need an appointment for care. Other times, it may
work just as well to get advice over the phone on how to handle your problem and what
symptoms to watch for.
When you have decisions to make about your care, or a doctor has recommended that you
get certain tests or treatment, information can be helpful. You can ask questions to be sure
that you understand why the care is needed and what it is supposed to do. Getting more
information from your doctor or other health provider can help you decide whether you are
getting as much care as you need. It can also help you decide whether certain care might be
unnecessary.
Tips for getting the care that works best for your condition
3
For help in asking questions, visit this government website:
www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer. It is run by the federal
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This website has
tips for patients on how and why to ask questions.
 It includes checklists of questions to ask in different
situations, such as when you get a new prescription or you
are having tests or surgery.
 You can even customize and print your own list of
questions to take with you to a medical visit.
When you have health concerns or decisions to make, finding trustworthy health
information on your own can be helpful. You can use this information to help understand
your health condition and treatment choices and know what questions to ask about your
care.
[NOTE: you will need to adapt or delete the sentence that follows and the
three bulleted points under it. The documents listed in the bulleted points are
available to you as part of the Toolkit.] Look for these tip sheets at the
employee website (employees.com/healthinfo):
 “Information about health care quality: what it is and
where to find it.”
 “How you can use information about health care
quality to get better care: Seven examples.”
 “A list of recommended websites that have trustworthy
health information.”
If you are facing a major decision about treatment, and your doctor has made a
recommendation, it’s wise to check with another doctor as well. Your doctor will expect you
to get a second opinion and will not take it as a criticism or lack of confidence on your part.
[NOTE: the sentence that follows is a placeholder to adapt or delete. If applicable, you can insert information
that is specific to health benefits at your organization.] Your health insurance usually pays for second
opinions and, for some types of treatment, a second opinion is required.