Even Moderate Medical Costs Mean Hardship

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Fgluuhvc of MT 2:20AM July 14, 2009

I'm not crazy about copays as they tend to run on the higher side for specialists. That's $50 in my case and I have to see several specialists at a time depending on the problem. However, in general, health care is about priorities and I scratch my head at the ones some people have. They'll complain about $10-$20 here or there but seem to have no issues with paying $100 a month for unnecessary expenditures like cable or satellite television. How many households spend money on lottery tickets, Starbuck's lattes and cigarettes but balk at $125 every six months for preventive dental care? Americans have the oddest sense of what constitutes necessary spending.
What I can't stand are doctor's offices that constantly overbook and run an hour (or more)vlate for a scheduled appointment on a regular basis. They then have the gall to insist patients pay for the privilege. I have a neurologist's office that does this on a regular basis. Granted, there are true emergencies that can occasionally delay a physician. It would be unreasonable to not be understanding under these circumstances. This practice also has a policy of assessing a service charge if you pull a no call-no show (or even denying you service if it's a reoccurring problem). I have no inherent problem with this policy in theory. My issue is with an office where more often than not, the physician is substantially late with his appointments. I have started to demand the office waive my copay in exchange for this inconvenience. After all, isn't our time worth something? I don't win often but I do so with enough regularity to justify my trying. I also make a habit of calling before I leave the house to ensure that the physician is actually present at the office. Too many times I've waited for an hour for my appointment only to be informed that the doctor has been "delayed". I always demand to speak to the office manager and ask for an "adjustment" to my copay for such service.
My answer is for doctors to instruct their staff to stop overbooking and financially penalize patients who chronically miss their appointments. Rid yourself of irresponsible patients and reward those who show up on time with appoints at the scheduled hour.
To address this problem, make sure you fill out the evaluations of such medical practices from your insurance. I assure you they read your opinions and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Tim D. of NV 6:22PM December 22, 2008

People with health insurance need to check their plan documents VERY CAREFULLY. I found out this year after I hit my out of pocket maximum due to surgery (actually 1 botched surgery and 3 more to correct the error) - that our co-pays go toward the out of pocket maximum, therefore once I got there ($3,000/year), then all co-pays for doctor appointments stopped and visits are covered at 100% through the end of the plan year, though I still have co-pays for medications.
The problem is, doctor's offices want the co-pay anyway, even with documentation. Even the health insurance companies give out wrong information unless they check your SPECIFIC PLAN. At my last specialist visit with a new doctor, the girl in the front office called my health insurance to verify that I did not owe a co-pay and were told that I do have to pay it. It wasn't until I got on the phone and asked for a supervisor and demanded that she look at MY SPECIFIC plan that it was all straightened out.
From what I understand, the demand for co-pays upfront is because it is paid directly to the doctor - or that's what the girls in the front office told me anyway.
Even though the co-pay is only $30, that's still $30 and for the amount of money we pay every month for the insurance in the first place, those co-pay's add up fast and it's a long drawn out process of getting EOB's from insurance to get the co-pay's back from the doctor's office. There's no telling how much we have overpaid in co-pay's over the years.
So be sure you know YOUR SPECIFIC PLAN and don't be cheated out of co-pays you don't owe.

of TX 5:34AM December 19, 2008