hsmom Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Our local small town Dr office used to charge us $45 for a basic visit. Then they changed doctors and it was $55. No big deal well two years ago yet another doctor has come in. He started off with $65 for a visit and if you payed right at the time of visit you got 20% off. This was the normal up until January where the same doctor has taken the 20% off and now charges $75 to even be seen, then if they might do any work on you or anything it jumps up even more. So simple things like strep tests make your visit well over $100. Then I have to turn around and go to the pharmacy and spend even more. Why do they do this? Those of us who do not have insurance really get hit hard. The tighter times get the higher their prices get. Also another thing. We have had the same wonderful people working there for years, great receptionists, nurses, all of it. Now they fired all of them and brought in new, stuffy rude money hungry people. I am so upset. If there was any other doctor closer than an hour away I would go. Rant over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehog Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I just have to say, I don't know how you guys manage it. I think we in the UK take our (almost) free National Health Service for granted, for the most part. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jec3113 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Unfortunately, cash patients get to make up for the people who do not pay, the insurance rates being cut, the rising cost of malpractice insurance, the rising cost of supplies, staff, etc. While I understand you are being hit hard, those rates are not out of line. Pediatricians in particular are one of the lowest paid specialties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 The thing is this doctor just keeps raising his prices. I just don't see the point in it. You don't hear of malpractice suits here, it is just a small town clinic. That is it. They have 1 doctor and 2 NP's and 2 nurses. It has 5 exam rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Things are getting that expensive even WITH insurance. I basically don't go to the doctor anymore. I have to take my little one or I would not go either. Gosh the price of the visit takes a big chunk out of my grocery money for the next two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I have been without health insurance so I know what it is like. I was never seen by a doctor for $45 or even less than $100. On the other hand, the doctor is entitled to make a living. Maybe he has $200,000 in medical school loans and money is tight. Our co-payments are $30 per person so when my two kids go together it is $60. Then we head to the pharmacy where at most my insurance will cover 50%. I rarely get away with paying less than $50-100 at the pharmacy. Life is expensive is what I tell myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 You don't hear of malpractice suits here, it is just a small town clinic. That is it. They have 1 doctor and 2 NP's and 2 nurses. It has 5 exam rooms. They still have to have malpractice insurance, which is very expensive. About 10 years ago, my dh did some side work for a local peds practice. At that time, they were paying about $5000/month for malpractice insurance. This was a small two doctors, 4 nurses practice in a small town. I would imagine malpractice insurance has gone up, not down since then. The fees you originally paid were really low, and now are more up to par with the norm, from what I've seen. I know that doesn't make it any easier... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 It could the insurance rates. We live in a rural area that never sees malpractice lawsuits. But, the insurance rates just keep climbing. There are only two pediatricians in a three county radius and they pay a half million dollars each for malpractice insurance even though they've never been sued. It's up to nearly a million per year to be an OBGYN. We don't even have an OB in this county, the county north of us, or the county east of us. They'd have to charge three or four hundred dollars a visit to clear a profit because they don't have enough patients to spread the cost over. Last year, after expenses, one of the peds in our county announced she is retiring this year. Her take home pay was only $45,000.00 last year for all of the unbelievably long hours and education. It's just not worth it. I hate the rising prices and I do have good insurance though I think the payouts for office calls is too low. The rural areas are the worst hit and often times pay the most because they are very underserved...no competition, fewer options for the docs to begin with, and such. If the population is low, there aren't enough patients. If the population is high but still rural, then few docs, more patients than what they can handle, low payouts, higher costs, longer commutes between the hospitals, etc. It's very hard to attract doctors to the area and many of them, in order to stay in business, have to charge A LOT! Crazy! Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 I don't even see the DR. I see the NP, because one he will listen to what I have to say two because he doesn't rush us out the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Sage Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The MAIN reason costs are going up at the doctor's office is that medicare/medicaid are driving them up and make it illegal for them to give cash pay patients a break. I work for doctors and will try to keep this explanation as brief as possible. Medicare/medicaid will only pay a percentage of what is billed to them, I believe that currently it is 32%. Typically medicare patients are more complex/difficult. So, say a doctor spends 30 minutes with a medicare patient and wants to get even 30 dollars out of that visit, they have to bill 100 dollars. The other insurance companies, if they want to audit can only pull their own patient's charts. Medicare/medicaid, if they want to do an audit they can pull all charts for different insurance companies AND cash pay. If there is ANY discrepancy in what they bill from one company/patient etc to medicaid patients then they are guilty of insurance fraud. So if they bill medicare 100 dollars, planning to receive 32 dollars for that visit, then they MUST bill the cash pay patient 100 dollars as well. They can have a POSTED discount for cash and that is acceptable, but it cannot be more than 20% last I knew...so they cannot say 70% discount for paying cash. Doctors don't like it, clinics don't like it, patients don't like it, but when these rules are in place, basically everyone' hands are tied. Your best bet, for better prices for cash pay, is find a clinic that doesn't accept medicare/medicaid (few and far between) and then they are not governed by those rules and will typically have a lower cash rate. I think this is a very confusing thing to understand and it doesn't seem fair at all, but I have had it explained to me many times and I finally have it clear in my mind. Hope this helps make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 WendyK, I understand that feeling completely. DD is allergic to bee stings and must carry an epi-pen. So, when hers expired, I called the office to have them call in a re-fill to the pharmacy. This is not something about her health that changes from year to year, nor is it something that will change from any kind of health care provided by the doctor. Nothing doing. So, we went in for an office call and I expected that she would at least give dd a decent physical. The doc breezed into the room, looked up dd's nose, and in her ears (I timed this to see how long she'd be in the room), and left. She only said the word, "Hi". Charged us the $30.00 copay and billed the insurance $70.00! Yep, that's right. $100.00 and she was in the room 33 seconds. Dd didn't even have her blood pressure taken or her heart/lungs listened to. Of course, though we have prescription coverage, the script for the epi-pen is not covered. According to the insurance company, it's an unnecessary frill. Seriously, an unnecessary frill. So, I then paid $75.00 per epi-pen. She has one in her purse and one in her locker at EMS so she has one to take on shift though they've assured me that if she were stung while on shift, her paramedic partner would grab a dose of epinephrine from the med cabinet, jab her, and then start an IV with a benadryl push and run for the hospital. Nice to know they'd take care of her for me. But, she still feels like she should keep on at the station. Sheesh! $150.00 for the script. The doc collected $100.00 for 33 seconds of zero patient care. GRRRRR..... Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I just have to say, I don't know how you guys manage it. I think we in the UK take our (almost) free National Health Service for granted, for the most part. :grouphug: :iagree: (Canadian here, not UK, but I think our systems are very similar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3Boys Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 We recently went to health savings accounts, but before that our co-pay was $35. It was $50 for specialists. Prescriptions were of course extra along with any tests. We would just get billed for what insurance didn't pay. With the HSAs we don't pay anything up front but have to wait until it's submitted, then get a bill for our part. Some things go right to the regular insurance, like mammograms, but most regular stuff comes out of the first $2,500 in the savings account part. Dh's employer puts half of that into our account but we have to come up with the rest. I think dh has budgeted some money every month to contribute our part. Our monthly premiums that cover the "regular" insurance have gone down though. Malpractice cost are a big percentage of what you pay in office visit fees. This is why we need tort reform, which will result in those costs coming down, probably significantly. Allowing insurance to be bought across state lines would help with rising insurance costs, as it would provide more competition resulting in lower premiums. Along with the rising costs, I'm also concerned about availability. I keep hearing about practices which are considering closing due to high costs. My physicians in TN, where we just moved from, were no longer taking medicaid or medicare patients, or any state programs as well. They said if they were forced to they would just close. Our pediatrician there said the same thing. That is very scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Things are getting that expensive even WITH insurance. I basically don't go to the doctor anymore. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 We pay for insurance, AND pay $100+ for each doctor's visit, without any tests, until we reach our (pretty high) deductible. $100 for a visit and test seems very, very cheap to me! It would definitely be cheaper for me to pay that, and not pay monthly insurance. So, yay? It could be worse, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Yes it could be worse. Just wanted to rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Standard costs for an office visit around here are $80. Specialists START at $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Wow, consider yourself lucky. Our basic GPs around here charge $125-150 per office visit. I really shouldn't even start on this topic today. I just found out that even with our insurance we will could owe $7500 this year in medical. I want to cry. We may need a 3rd job to cover it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda1951 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 They are like the gas stations, they raise the price to whatever they want. with insurance dr visit no test 150 dollars. we go twice a year and that is it. We get sick , we do home remidies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Yes it could be worse. Just wanted to rant. If you get a prescription, always always ask if they have a sample. Some doctors are great about offering, while others never think about it unless you ask. Sometimes the sample is all you need; if not, it at least saves you from filling the scrip if you wind up allergic to the meds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 We now have walk-in clinics in our local pharmacies staffed only with a NP. They are much, much cheaper than a ped. visit. Any chance you have one nearby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Nope nothing like that wish we did. Well we went to the dr and they gave me a discount yeah! Also they said everything I already knew he is congested and needs fluids. Now only if dh would have listened to me when I said "no he doesn't need a dr. he needs some more time to get over it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I think you have two separate issues here: 1. the high cost of medical care (which we're all experiencing) :( 2. the poor bedside manner of your doctor I wouldn't tolerate a doctor zipping in and out for 30 seconds and only saying, "Hi." Seriously. If you have questions, ask them. If you want a physical done, ask for the physical. If you want to chitchat about other random body issues while you're in there, go for it. Doctors provide a service. If you aren't happy with the service you're receiving, switch. I have had to switch opthamologists, obs, doctors, and dentists (all once) over the years, and I'm so glad that I did. I now have to deliver at a hospital an hour away and it has been a GOOD decision. Don't settle for poor care. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewpeaceful Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The thing is this doctor just keeps raising his prices. I just don't see the point in it. You don't hear of malpractice suits here, it is just a small town clinic. That is it. They have 1 doctor and 2 NP's and 2 nurses. It has 5 exam rooms. While that may be true, malpractice insurance, which they are required to carry, is going through the roof. A lot of doctors have left CT because of it. We have a high deductible plan so we have the same rates as cash patients until we hit that high deductible number. Here in CT, I pay no less than $125 for a simple visit, $145 for a stuffy nose, and $185 if there are multiple symptoms. Then the doctor tries to charge us $75 for an eye exam - um, the "E" chart mind you - which sent me over a cliff. The only savings I have seen from having insurance didn't hit until I had to have a ton of lab work and my hysterectomy done. It wasn't until THOSE bills started coming in was I greatful to have insurance. But believe me, I am MORE than sympathetic to your situation, I think the whole country is. I DO have a question for UK National Health program where care is free. The hysterectomy board I was on seemed to imply that people have to wait in line for major surgeries like a hysterectomy - as in there are only so many they perform a year so get in line. One lady has been waiting 10 months for her number to be called. Did I misunderstand this? Is this really how it works? I was able to have my surgery in 3 weeks flat. Just curious what it really looks like across the pond. Not attacking, I promise, trying to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehog Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I DO have a question for UK National Health program where care is free. The hysterectomy board I was on seemed to imply that people have to wait in line for major surgeries like a hysterectomy - as in there are only so many they perform a year so get in line. One lady has been waiting 10 months for her number to be called. Did I misunderstand this? Is this really how it works? I was able to have my surgery in 3 weeks flat. Just curious what it really looks like across the pond. Not attacking, I promise, trying to understand. That is true, for what are deemed to be non-urgent cases. As far as I'm aware, urgent cases automatically get put to the top of the list. It's a bit like how both our doctor's and dentist's surgeries work: if you call for a regular appointment, they'll look through their schedule and give you an appt at some convenient time in the week. But if you say that the situation is urgent but not such as to necessitate a trip to A&E (ER), then they will see when their next emergency appt is on that day. They have two different appointment schedules, and in my experience it works very well. Private medical care is another matter altogether.. not dissimilar to your healthcare system I believe.. short waits and good care, but you pay through the nose for it. I like the fact that we have both, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I have been without health insurance so I know what it is like. I was never seen by a doctor for $45 or even less than $100. On the other hand, the doctor is entitled to make a living. Maybe he has $200,000 in medical school loans and money is tight. Our co-payments are $30 per person so when my two kids go together it is $60. Then we head to the pharmacy where at most my insurance will cover 50%. I rarely get away with paying less than $50-100 at the pharmacy. Life is expensive is what I tell myself. :iagree: I pay in cash to see my PCP. It is a $70 fee -- n/c labs or tests. I try to get her to prescribe generic so I can go to WalMart for $4 for it. Sign o' the times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Standard costs for an office visit around here are $80. Specialists START at $100. My liver disease specialist charges $400 as his fee -- I have to see him 2x a year. Ouch $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewpeaceful Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 That is true, for what are deemed to be non-urgent cases. As far as I'm aware, urgent cases automatically get put to the top of the list. It's a bit like how both our doctor's and dentist's surgeries work: if you call for a regular appointment, they'll look through their schedule and give you an appt at some convenient time in the week. But if you say that the situation is urgent but not such as to necessitate a trip to A&E (ER), then they will see when their next emergency appt is on that day. They have two different appointment schedules, and in my experience it works very well. Private medical care is another matter altogether.. not dissimilar to your healthcare system I believe.. short waits and good care, but you pay through the nose for it. I like the fact that we have both, actually. Thanks! That is a big help. Stateside, many of us are afraid of socialized medicine and ,of course, the other camp demands it be implemented yesterday. I see both sides and am just trying to make sense of it all. Thanks for the reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 My friend in California had to wait 3 weeks to be seen by a cardiac specialist, even though her doctor recommended she get in right away. She was having irregular heartbeat up to 20 times in a day. The specialist (the only one in her area and on her insurance) told her that was the first opening, and if she needed anything sooner she should just go to the emergency room. FYI, I live in a rural area and thankfully we have a doc here who only charges $45 for office visits. He doesn't accept any insurance, which appears to be why he is able to offer cash visits so low. (I do consider that low.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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