More than 23 million people in the United States are diabetic and require on-going health care to manage their disease. According to the American Diabetes Association, the average annual cost of medical care for people with diabetes is $6,649.

Those details prompted this Health Insurance Navigator blog, which explores a handful of options for how to pay for diabetes-related health care.

You may not have control over high medical costs, but when it comes to medical bills you can make a huge difference in how much you pay for your care. The key is to know when and where to take action.

Here are four mistakes that can take a big financial toll when it comes to medical bills.

I recently appeared on The Renal Support Network’s Kidney Talk podcast to discuss common medical billing errors and what consumers can do about them. You can listen to the discussion with Lori Hartwell at RSN’s website.

Here we are at the end of another year. If you’re among those who make New Year’s resolutions related to your health, here’s an incentive to stick with your 2012 plans: Poor health habits are costing you money.

In this last Health Insurance Navigator blog post of 2011, I discuss the cost of poor health habits and ways to save on insurance premiums.

Bill Heisel is a veteran health journalist who writes a wonderful blog at USC’s Reporting on Health.  On his Antidote blog, Bill has been talking lately about how in a changing media market,  journalists need to find ways to reinvent themselves.

He was kind enough to ask if I’d share my experiences in reinventing my own career and how I created a life as an independent journalist. You can read his two-part Q & A with me at Antidote here and here.

This year, nearly 20.5 million people with Medicare coverage took advantage of the free preventive services available to them as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

You can read more about it, plus tips for Medicare Open Enrollment at the Health Insurance Navigator.

Do you believe smokers should pay more for health insurance? If so, you have company– nearly 59% of respondents of an NPR-Thompson Reuters health poll think the practice is fair.

You can read more about the poll and the public’s opinions on both smokers and people who are overweight at the Health Insurance Navigator.

In this Health Insurance Navigator post, I offer a number of resources for keeping track of medical bills and protecting yourself against overpaying for care.

I talk with finance expert and financial editor for the Today Show, Jean Chatzky, about the impact of medical debt on your credit score in this post on my WebMD Health Insurance Navigator blog.

If you get your health insurance at work, fall is the time of year to make health plan selections for 2012. In this Health Insurance Navigator post, I discuss health insurance trends to watch for this year.