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Medical costs

December 5th, 2006 at 06:20 pm

Somedays it makes me wonder why I have insurance...

I have Asthma... I have it since I was a chid... nothing new to me. A few years ago before I had my first child I was using the mail order prescription program for my asthma drugs - they would send me 'enough' for 3 months - every three months. Well - I am not sure where they were getting the amount needed from, but I ended up with a stockpile of inhalers. Good for me - I didn't need to go to the dr to to get prescriptions refilled for a while.

Well three years later my stockpile is getting low and I realize that most of the enhalers I have been taking expired 2 years ago. So I make an appt - I know going in what drugs are needed - it should be a short visit.

Since I haven't been there for years they wanted to run all the stupid allergy tests on me. After a 3 hr appt - the verdict was - nothing changed (no kidding...). So he gives me my prescription and I move on.

I got my mail last night and my insurance is not going to cover 100% of the costs of the test (I think we have some fine print in our insurance costs for in-office proceedures...). So I think I am going to be getting a $200 (at least) bill from the clinic. This is in addition to the $100 I already owe for our kids well-child checkups and my portion of my eye dr visit (Ins pays 70%). My flex money is already used up so this will be out of my own pocket...

Just when I am getting my money organized to finally make progress this pops up. I was nearly in tears last night (also had PMS issues).

Posted in Medical/Insurance | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Medical costs”

  1. rduell Says:
    December 5th, 2006 at 06:24 pm 1165343098
    1165343098

    I'm sorry. I know how you feel. Last month I just paid off the medical bills for my son's broken thumb. He broke it in October 2005! It's a set-back yes, but don't let it get you down. Just pay what you can, when you can.

  2. janH Says:
    December 5th, 2006 at 06:48 pm 1165344496
    1165344496

    Same thing here. Last month I paid off the last bills from DD getting thrown from a horse last spring! My frustration is with the dental and eye insurance. The dental one pays only half of the stuff, leaving me with a whopping big bill for each procedure. The eye only pays 20 every couple of years. Try getting contacts for that amount--or glasses. Sheesh! But I have to admit that our regular medical is tons better than 20 years ago. I know that sometimes it feels like you are never going to get ahead financewise, but the guys here have encouraged little baby steps and moving forward slowly. It has improved, so I have great faith that yours will, too. Hang in there, you are on the right path!

  3. jriessel Says:
    December 5th, 2006 at 08:57 pm 1165352279
    1165352279

    I think my biggest complaint is that I didn't NEED the tests - I knew nothing has changed in the past 10 years... I just needed to get a prescription...

  4. sue Says:
    December 9th, 2006 at 04:54 pm 1165683290
    1165683290

    At one point I had insurance that had a $1K deductable per person. I always let the physician know that I had to pay out of pocket for all services. I also checked all coverage and made a point to understand my policy. I declined services that I could not pay for (unless an emergency). Many of the proceedures are to cover the Dr.'s butt against litigation. They will let you know if they absolutely need something. You can also negotiate a proceedure ahead of time. I found that my Dr. would often give me free medical samples from the drug company when I had such poor insurance. I would suggest calling the dr. or place you had the proceedures and get on a monthly payment plan so it does not hurt your credit. If you have need they will some times lower the amount you need to pay or set you up to pay monthly over a period of time. Also check out your county or city you live in and see if they have some free medical services such as free shots or teeth cleaning for your kids. I've done that in the past too. It is good that you are doing your medical savings account. Every little bit helps. I also kept track of my medical bills so each yeat I could budget monthly for what I would need.

    Also, let price around for you dentist and medical proceedures. Always let them know that you have trouble with full payment. What is the best price.

    If you have a Dr. that is racking up bills to line his own pocket- get rid of him!!!!!!! We just got rid of a new dentist that was making up cavities and proceedures. We got a second opinion and found out how he was lining his pocket. That is making up what you need.

    Lastly, learn about how to live a healthy lifestyle and diet and exercise to keep yourself healthy and away from the medical doctors. I would recommend learning holistic techniques.

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