(CNN) The health care debate is full of numbers: 48.6 million uninsured Americans; $2.6 trillion spent on health care annually; family premiums that have increased 97% over the past decade.

But those numbers are abstract and hold little meaning for Americans struggling to pay their medical bills.

Perhaps a more accurate number is $3,200: the average out-of-pocket health care cost for a family of four in 2011. Or $815 the typical cost of an abdominal MRI in Chicago. Or $24,431 the hospital fee for having a pacemaker inserted in San Diego.

Those are the numbers that can leave you feeling helpless.

When youre ill, the last thing you should do is turn down care. Instead, learn to take charge of your health care costs to prevent your medical bill from making you even sicker.

(People) frequently overpay for services just because they dont know that theres price variation that you can get the exact same care at a different facility across the street for a fraction of the cost, says Dr. Jeffrey Rice, founder of HealthCareBlueBook.com, a free price comparison website for patients.

Rice often tells the story of his son, who needed outpatient foot surgery. Rice was initially quoted $37,000 for the procedure. His total after insurance and discounts would be around $20,000, the doctor told him. So Rice asked if there was another facility where they could get the procedure.

His new total? $1,500 for a happy and healthy son.

If there was a gas station that said $20 a gallon, you would not go there, correct? Rice asks. But in health care, thats how bad it is. There are people who pay five times too much for their health care every day.

Just ask

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4 ways to control your health care costs