doctor's appt

[panthergirl]

so, today i went to the doctor for my yearly checkup.
she asked me how everything was going, we chatted about the kids,
she has two kids close in age to mine,
and i told her how my job hours were cut in half and how my benefits were gone except for health ins which i have til the end of the year.
how things were tough but ok.. we'll be fine and have a positive outlook.
she did what she had to do, i got dressed and went out to the front desk.

the secretary at the front told me 'no charge, she's not charging you'
i said, ok, thank you... i was really at a loss for words...
i got in my car and sat there for a minute.
went back up to the office, asked to go inside and whispered...
why isn;t she charging me?? i can get some reimbursement from the ins company (she is out of network, and a checkup is like $300)
the girls said... no, don;t worry about it.. no charge.

i am just floored that she did this.
do i write a thank you note? what is the proper etiquette?

[Not_Trapped]

thank you note is good...you have no idea how much it means to healthcare providers to receive a thank you!

[oblio]

Give Blood.
:vamp:

[panthergirl]

i'm planning on selling my blood so i can afford to see pearl jam when they tour... :)

[moyboy]

maybe she has a fav charity, something close to her heart, and if you can afford it you could donate some of what you would have been charged to that? maybe write a thank you note and let her know that you pushed the gesture of goodwill forward? just an idea.

[moyboy]

but I guess that would go against her gesture of you saving money, especially if it came out of pocket instead of from insurance. so scratch that?

[yer ardy]

a short, thank you note is nice. it's always good to hear something positive.

i work at an ob/gyn office..i can relate to this. we are finding an incredible amount of people with little or no insurance. these are mostly autoworkers whose benefits have been cut back. so, one of the ways people are cutting back is to forgo their health care. some may say, "...it's only about $120-$150 for a visit, a one time thing...why can't they afford that?" it's simple. while their insurance benefits are being cut, their actual insurance is also cutting back on coverages. an annual physical that used to be covered 100%may only be covered 50%, not including lab fees, etc., if it's covered at all. and deductibles are skyrocketing. my own insurance used to have a yearly family deductible of $1,000 - it has been increased to $5,000 per year. we'd have to be in and out of the hospital and doctor's offices almost monthly to ever meet that amount. so you have someone out of work, struggling with necessary bills, and you're asking them to front $100+ or so on a doc visit? if people are feeling well, they're not going to go to their annual. but, it IS totally important to get that yearly exam, that pap test, that mammogram. i could go on....back to topic, we, too, have waived copays and deductibles, and yes, actual total appointment fees just so our patients can get care. none of us have had a raise in 2 years, and all of us have had our hours cut. we'd rather take the loss than have that patient go without necessary care. if your insurance has been cut, or you have none, still make the attempt to be seen. please talk to your doctor's office manager and make arrangements. you'd be surprised how they will work with you so you get the care you need.

[Buannan]

You work for a good doctor. The last time I was out of work (last year around this time), I had pneumonia. I went to the doc and was diagnosed with that. I lost my job the next day for missing so much work. I didn't get better (I'm also an asthmatic and pneumonia and asthma do not mix) and called my doc to ask for more or different meds. They wouldn't give me more without me coming in. I explained that I had lost my job and had no insurance and really could not afford a doctor visit and more x-rays and so on. They told me to try going to the public health clinic then.

That's just one of many reasons why I despise the clinic I used to go to. The sad thing is that it is very difficult to get in to see a family practitioner up here unless you are an established patient. Many are not taking new patients.

[yer ardy]

i dont know what the law is officially but i believe a person is not supposed to be turned away from an ER or an urgent care clinic if they do not have insurance. a private practice can choose to not treat someone who has no insurance but if you walk in a clinic, ER or urgent care facility, you have to be seen at the very least. after that, i'm not sure what the protocol is....

it's a fickle arena, healthcare & no insurance....maybe that clinic has changed its tune from a year ago since, no doubt, more and more of their patients have insurance issues..

[rockrighter]

some may say, "...it's only about $120-$150 for a visit, a one time thing...why can't they afford that?"

ONLY?!

That's a lot. Anyone who says "only" needs a bumswat. A bumswat of compassion. :ogre:

[Buannan]

i dont know what the law is officially but i believe a person is not supposed to be turned away from an ER or an urgent care clinic if they do not have insurance. a private practice can choose to not treat someone who has no insurance but if you walk in a clinic, ER or urgent care facility, you have to be seen at the very least. after that, i'm not sure what the protocol is....

it's a fickle arena, healthcare & no insurance....maybe that clinic has changed its tune from a year ago since, no doubt, more and more of their patients have insurance issues..
I know an ER has to take you. That is why so many poor people go to the ER and part of the reason our insurance rates are so high. We don't have urgent care clinics here. I know, unbelievable that a city the size of Seattle doesn't have them, but we don't. Issaquah has one but it's a long drive....especially for a sick person. I think Burien is trying to get one which would be a close drive for me.

Anyway, no, the clinic hasn't changed a bit. It's where I've taken my son as well. Since it is so hard to find a doctor that will take you if you aren't an established patient up here, I've had to use that same clinic again. They definitely has issues. It's the whole organization they are in, they are all more concerned about money than health. I've seen it with their specialists too. Thankfully I have finally got my son in to Seattle Children's to see a GI specialist there. Hopefully they will help the poor kid.

Anyway, I always thought the issue with health care in this country was no insurance, but, seriously, the problems run deeper than that. If my bout with pneumonia (where I literally had to beg the doc to take an x-ray, he was sure it was just my asthma) and my son's bout with whatever is going on with him (where the doc put him on freaking paxil...PAXIL... because he was sure it was an anxiety disorder) is any indication, the system is definitely broken. And, no, my son does not have an anxiety disorder. I took him to a psychiatrist (cost me $200 and that is WITH insurance) and he was as horrified as I was that my son's doctor would prescribe him paxil right off the bat.

Then again, maybe it's just Seattle and just that particular organization that has issues. It's Swedish Physicians if anyone up here is interested.

[mensane]

i hate all of this. what a nightmare for a person without insurance when something happens. my sister had a seizure while working last week (she does transcription from home). her husband was in the room when it happened and freaked out. this has never happened to her before. she wouldnt let him take her to the hospital because she doesnt have insurance. when she woke up the next morning, she still felt "off"...but no doctor. she started getting worried when her husband was about to leave for work. what if it happened again and he wasnt there? he told her if she was too scared for him to go to work that she was going to the doctor...so off to the ER they went.

who knows how much that will be. she is a nervous wreck about the bill. they are still facing the $15,000.00 bill from the U of Virginia medical center from when emily was born in Dec 2006. they live from paycheck to paycheck and cant imagine what they will do when/if their wages get garnished for the bills.

and there is me...
i HATE to go to the doctor and am overdue for a check-up. all this makes me feel guilty, because i am fortunate enought to have very good insurance ($25 copay, no deductable, 10% of bill paid by me).

[panthergirl]

i hate to go too...
but now i'm relieved that i went and i don;t have to go for at least a year.

just make that appt and go.


you can do it!!

[Not_Trapped]

i dont know what the law is officially but i believe a person is not supposed to be turned away from an ER or an urgent care clinic if they do not have insurance. a private practice can choose to not treat someone who has no insurance but if you walk in a clinic, ER or urgent care facility, you have to be seen at the very least. after that, i'm not sure what the protocol is....

it's a fickle arena, healthcare & no insurance....maybe that clinic has changed its tune from a year ago since, no doubt, more and more of their patients have insurance issues..

if a hospital received federal funding in anyway then, pursuant to EMTALA, they cannot turn away or otherwise transfer a patient until he/she is stable - really applies to emergency or emergent conditions. this applies to virtually every hospital...and it arose out of, i believe, deaths caused by hospitals not wanting to provide indigent care, so they shipped patients to a county hospital and they died en route...

that is the short of it...

[yer ardy]

thanks, dominic. i was waiting for you to comment :)


hi, by the way :)

[yer ardy]

i hate to go too...
but now i'm relieved that i went and i don;t have to go for at least a year.

just make that appt and go.


you can do it!!

shaley, baby...make that appt. you'll find those who work in the healthcare industry are the worst patients. i hadn't gone for my annual for over 3 years. finally went last fall. a lot of my coworkers are delinquent in their annuals, too. doctors, nurses and hc staff make the *worst* patients, lol. i'll talk to patients who say, "i'm so late for my annual, it was due in january..." and it's only march! little do they know the person they're talking to hasn't been seen in 3 years....

go baby go :)

[Not_Trapped]

hello!

if anyone has prescription meds that they don't want - please, ship, covertly, to the beach!

[brokenarrow]

That's a good doc you have there, someone who is remembering why they got into medicine in the first place.
A thank you note would be a wonderful thing to send!

[mensane]

hello!

if anyone has prescription meds that they don't want - please, ship, covertly, to the beach!

haha...the only real motivation for going to my doctor is that she will prescribe vicodin for just about anything.