"Free" annual physical not free (1 Viewer)

[Zigg]

Swell country, fellas.

 

[mrip541]

I promise it's better without pics.

 

[Zow]

matttyl,

if i have a full physical with bloodwork and something shows up in said bloodwork, i now have to pay for the bloodwork?  jesus christ that's ####ed up.

If I'm reading his posts correctly, you have to pay for the follow up to what's in the bloodwork and for efficiency's sake you do that on the spot. So it feels like the same appointment but really isn't. 

 

[ffjunk]

If I'm reading his posts correctly, you have to pay for the follow up to what's in the bloodwork and for efficiency's sake you do that on the spot. So it feels like the same appointment but really isn't. 

Might not all be the same but with mine the physical itself has no copay, but they do not consider blood work to be part of the physical and charge you for that.

 

[jon_mx]

It seems to me doctors should be required to post charges for all their services.  This is one area consumers have no protection and can be charged whatever.   

 

[mrip541]

It seems to me doctors should be required to post charges for all their services.  This is one area consumers have no protection and can be charged whatever.   

There's a walk-in clinic (one of these) near my office that refuses to give you even the most vague price quote. A while back my throat was killing me so stopped in to see if I could get a quick strep test, and they wouldn't even give me a general price range. I told them what my insurance was and asked how much they would bill my specific insurance for this specific visit and they wouldn't say. I was told the only way to know the cost was to wait for the bill. Total scam.

 

[matttyl]

It seems to me doctors should be required to post charges for all their services.  This is one area consumers have no protection and can be charged whatever.   

While I agree, it would be a different price with every time of insurance they take.  Also, there are literally thousands of different bill codes.  So even if this were a thing, you'd have to search for the very specific bill code that you'd be having done, and then have to look up the very specific type of insurance that you have under it.  And those numbers would be constantly changing and likely never up to date. 

As for "no protection", though - the protection is the insurance.  They can't be charged "whatever", they have to be charged the pre-negotiated rate (assuming in network), you just can't find what that is and no carrier would be willing to post it, or allow their in network doctors to post it and make that information public. 

 

[jon_mx]

While I agree, it would be a different price with every time of insurance they take.  Also, there are literally thousands of different bill codes.  So even if this were a thing, you'd have to search for the very specific bill code that you'd be having done, and then have to look up the very specific type of insurance that you have under it.  And those numbers would be constantly changing and likely never up to date. 

As for "no protection", though - the protection is the insurance.  They can't be charged "whatever", they have to be charged the pre-negotiated rate (assuming in network), you just can't find what that is and no carrier would be willing to post it, or allow their in network doctors to post it and make that information public. 

Carriers would be willing to post if they were legally required.  Seems to me, open pricing would drive competition and lower pricing.  Right now everyone is playing games.  Insurance companies.  Doctors.  And even consumers.  The only winners are the ones who know how best to scam the system. 

 

[CurlyNight]

There's a walk-in clinic (one of these) near my office that refuses to give you even the most vague price quote. A while back my throat was killing me so stopped in to see if I could get a quick strep test, and they wouldn't even give me a general price range. I told them what my insurance was and asked how much they would bill my specific insurance for this specific visit and they wouldn't say. I was told the only way to know the cost was to wait for the bill. Total scam.

Practices don't know what your cost will be until they submit the bill and see what the insurance pays. So it doesn't make sense for someone to throw a guess out there and it comes out to be more, then there's an upset pt. Every insurance is different with so many plans within it. Now if you are a cash pt then they need to give you the price before you are seen.

 

[mquinnjr]

Freedom, also not free.

 

[matttyl]

Carriers would be willing to post if they were legally required.  Seems to me, open pricing would drive competition and lower pricing.  Right now everyone is playing games.  Insurance companies.  Doctors.  And even consumers.  The only winners are the ones who know how best to scam the system. 

Very much doubt it.  And it wouldn't lower pricing, either.  Say I'm a general family doctor, and I get paid $150 from my largest carrier for each "basic office visit" I do.  But I notice that the other doctors in my area are all getting $200 each from the same carrier.  You can bet when my contract with them comes up for re-upping I'm going to demand $200 like all my contemporaries, if not more.  No doctor wants to be at the bottom end of that bell curve. 

The same holds true on the carrier side, but in a way reversed.  They want to keep the costs down, obviously, as that leads to more money for them. 

 

[Thorpe]

Carriers would be willing to post if they were legally required.  Seems to me, open pricing would drive competition and lower pricing.  Right now everyone is playing games.  Insurance companies.  Doctors.  And even consumers.  The only winners are the ones who know how best to scam the system. 

It isn't the carrier who sets the rates.  It is the Provider Network. 

Also, the provider normally won't know what codes he is going to bill until after he sees you.  

 

[James Daulton]

You guys bothered by this really need to find something better to be bothered about.  It's a stupid system, but your insurance has negotiated rates that they'll pay no matter what the doctor or hospital charges.  You are protected by being part of your insurance company.

The only way you really get screwed (and I mean in this particular sense and not health insurance in general) is if you're self pay.  Then you have to pay whatever the provider charges and that can suck pretty hard.

 

[NutterButter]

You guys bothered by this really need to find something better to be bothered about.  It's a stupid system, but your insurance has negotiated rates that they'll pay no matter what the doctor or hospital charges.  You are protected by being part of your insurance company.

The only way you really get screwed (and I mean in this particular sense and not health insurance in general) is if you're self pay.  Then you have to pay whatever the provider charges and that can suck pretty hard.

Or if you go out of network

 

[James Daulton]

Or if you go out of network

There's still generally an agreement to pay reasonable and customary charges, but if not, yes, you're F'd.

 

[The Big Guy]

I go in and do the physical, drop of the form, and have them send me the results of the blood work and the signed form I leave them with.  They ask me to come in for a follow up and I decline.  Then they tell me what I need over the phone and don't charge me. 

This is what gets me. The bogus follow up appointment where they review your results with you and charge you for a new appointment.  I had a test done while I was in hospital and the results came after I was discharged. They had me come in to their office to tell me the test was fine, but the doctor was out of network and that office visit ended up being an anal drilling. He apparently is covered when he sees me at the hospital, but not when at his office.

I had a massive fight with them and all avoidable by just telling me results as part of my already paid for visit.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

You guys bothered by this really need to find something better to be bothered about.  It's a stupid system, but your insurance has negotiated rates that they'll pay no matter what the doctor or hospital charges.  You are protected by being part of your insurance company.

The only way you really get screwed (and I mean in this particular sense and not health insurance in general) is if you're self pay.  Then you have to pay whatever the provider charges and that can suck pretty hard.




 

I have a HMO - $1000 deductible (prescriptions max out at $50 each - office visit co-pays).

Still get screwed when it comes to blood testing.  You don't know what's covered and how much until you get the bill.