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(CNN) -- Dr. John Di Saia was playing baseball with his son a few weeks ago, and just as he rounded second base, he tumbled to the ground, breaking his fall with his elbow.
Dr. John Di Saia was between health insurance plans when he ruptured his triceps tendon.

Dr. John Di Saia was between health insurance plans when he ruptured his triceps tendon.

"Guess I shouldn't have been running in flip-flops," says Di Saia. At first he didn't think much of the injury, but as it became more painful, he showed it to a colleague, who told him he'd ruptured his triceps tendon. "He said I needed surgery immediately."

One problem: Di Saia, a plastic surgeon in San Clemente, California, didn't have health insurance; he'd ended one policy a few weeks before and was about to start a new one. "It's pretty embarrasing when you're a physician and you say you don't have health insurance. They think you're some kind of an idiot," he says.

Once he got over the embarrassment, Di Saia buckled down and negotiated with doctors and the outpatient clinic to get the price for his surgery cut in half, from $4,800 to $2,400. While he says he was clearly at an advantage being a doctor, he thinks everyone can -- and should -- negotiate health care costs if they don't have insurance.

"You should always ask. Why wouldn't you try?" he says. [READ MORE]