italie |
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MAME owes italie many thank yous, hah
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Reged: 09/20/03
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Posts: 15244
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Loc: BoomTown
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another "only me" situation..aka "why our healthcare sucks"
04/12/12 08:18 PM
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Sick Monday. Really sick Tuesday and Wednesday. Decide Wednesday evening I need to get to a doctor. I couldn't breath, not bad enough to pay for an ambulance ride..but enough to need care asap.
Just switched insurance providers over to my wife's as they were the more comprehensive package. This required me to change primary care providers for the first time in my life. I have not seen my new doctor yet. I hadn't seen my old doctor in a while either...
Soo...my two choices were E.R. or convenient care center (same hospital running it as the ER). I choose the convenient care, as it was 20 minutes closer, and seemed the more responsible choice. An ER visit was $75 copay, care center was $30. I thought I made the smart choice.
Diagnosed and treated, it was serious enough to warrant asap treatment, but obviously did not require an ER. After, I was informed that for my insurance to be billed I needed a refferal. A refferal from a primary care provider I haven't seen. For emergent care. My new primary care provider does not wish to issue refferals for patients they have not seen...after the fact.
I might be paying out of pocket for the whole deal now....
After 4 hours of phone work today, I ended up asking blue cross two questions:
"You prefer I go to a convenient care center over the emergency room right?" A: yes.
"Had I gone to the ER and paid the $75 would I have needed a referral or 4 hours of phone work or been on the hook for thousands in medical fees?" A: no.
Lesson learned: Abuse your local ER, even if there are other options. Tell them BlueCross sent you.
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another "only me" situation..aka "why our healthcare sucks"
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