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The joys of modern health care
Well, well, well.... Once again, travel with a whopper injection every three days is a PITA.
The people in the Tucson, Arizona hospital urgent care have not been ignoring me -- they have been wending their way through the land mines of American health care -- IE my health insurance.
Now, we must put this into perspective -- the woman tracking this considers my insurance good (oh, dear...) and that they would pay for 80% after my out-of-network deductible. After the $1000 I get to pay. I know I have one OON they will probably take -- actually seeing my specialist in California. Not sure if they will pay for my chiropractic visits. My insurance has weird rules about chiropractors. (They have one -- yes, you read that correctly -- ONE chiropractor on their list. Apparently they charge a doctor's office $5 per visit to process the visit; they still may not pay, after that.)
But that means another $750 out out of pocket before the 80-20 kicks in. And we've discovered that this cannot possibly be reasonable, because the pharmacist at the hospital has to charge $258.91 per vial for my injections. That does not include the fee for the nurse doing the injection. So -- $1294.55 just for five vials.
In Austin I pay up front, at the highest, $108 a vial. A dear friend does the injection for me, so there is no "doctor's visit plus injection" change.
CRAP.
The nice person at the hospital suggested I try the grocery stores -- some are opening stations with nurses for patrons to take care of minor, non-emergency stuff. So...calling Frye's and Ike's groceries. My father may end up doing these (or starting them -- and then someone with stronger hands can finish) but the nurses at Urgent Care really tried, so they should get cookies or fudge. It will be arranged -- unless I can't get these shots and don't go. I need to see if American will credit me for tickets another time.
The people in the Tucson, Arizona hospital urgent care have not been ignoring me -- they have been wending their way through the land mines of American health care -- IE my health insurance.
Now, we must put this into perspective -- the woman tracking this considers my insurance good (oh, dear...) and that they would pay for 80% after my out-of-network deductible. After the $1000 I get to pay. I know I have one OON they will probably take -- actually seeing my specialist in California. Not sure if they will pay for my chiropractic visits. My insurance has weird rules about chiropractors. (They have one -- yes, you read that correctly -- ONE chiropractor on their list. Apparently they charge a doctor's office $5 per visit to process the visit; they still may not pay, after that.)
But that means another $750 out out of pocket before the 80-20 kicks in. And we've discovered that this cannot possibly be reasonable, because the pharmacist at the hospital has to charge $258.91 per vial for my injections. That does not include the fee for the nurse doing the injection. So -- $1294.55 just for five vials.
In Austin I pay up front, at the highest, $108 a vial. A dear friend does the injection for me, so there is no "doctor's visit plus injection" change.
CRAP.
The nice person at the hospital suggested I try the grocery stores -- some are opening stations with nurses for patrons to take care of minor, non-emergency stuff. So...calling Frye's and Ike's groceries. My father may end up doing these (or starting them -- and then someone with stronger hands can finish) but the nurses at Urgent Care really tried, so they should get cookies or fudge. It will be arranged -- unless I can't get these shots and don't go. I need to see if American will credit me for tickets another time.
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We so, so badly need a new health system.
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If the line on a nurse falls though, I will keep it in mind!