Health insurance

I got a letter from my son’s doctor saying that our insurance denied the claim to pay for his visit on January 30^th. Needless to say I was freaked out. The letter stated we owed them $150. What was more terrifying was that he has had two more doctor’s appointments and we have filled three prescriptions since then. That’s a lot of potential bills that could be coming. We called the insurance company right away but the recording said they closed at 6:00. It was 6:04 on Friday night. So we had to stress about it all weekend.

I called again first thing yesterday morning and was told that they have it on record that we have another insurance that is primary. Luckily it was easy to clear up. I’m not sure why they thought we had another insurance, but supposedly it’s all fixed.

All of this answered one question that I had. I always wondered how much it actually cost to go to the doctor if you don’t have insurance. Now I know that it’s $170, at least to see this particular doctor. (The $150 I owed them plus the $20 I paid at the time of the visit.) That’s a lot of money! Then we also fill two prescriptions each month that cost us $30 in copays but the total cost would be $160 without insurance.

In January we paid $50 in copays and $165 for the insurance itself. So that totals $215 out of pocket expenses for us, and the insurance paid $280 on our behalf. That is pretty amazing. I can’t believe we come out ahead. And that is a pretty average month. Someone around here ends up at the doctor at least once a month. In April we have three doctor’s appointments scheduled. The insurance company better get their checkbook out!

Picture by Fillmore photography