So I cut off the tip of my finger at 4:45 pm on Monday, August 3rd. I was in intense pain and my entire focus was on keeping pressure on my finger and staying conscious. My kind and generous neighbor drove me to the closest open Urgent Care center, which gave me good care and a tetanus shot. I then filed the claim with my insurance.
Because the Urgent Care center was out of network, the full cost of my finger care is shouldered by me - going towards my deductible. My insurance did pay for my tetanus shot.
So today I called my insurance to find out what I should do in the future if I should sever part of my body in order to ensure I get the full benefit of my plan. I discovered that there are 2 local Urgent Care centers that do accept my plan. One of them closes at 5:00 pm, the other is open until 8:00 pm. Otherwise, I should go to the ER, where I will pay $50 and then the plan covers the cost.
So here's my lessons learned: Find out where to go for an emergency BEFORE you have the emergency. Otherwise you may get stuck paying full price for getting quick and convenient medical care.
Also, only get injured before 8:00 pm. Otherwise you'll have to spend your evening in the ER surrounded by people who are horrendously sick and probably carrying all sorts of nasty diseases. Yeah, I'm biased - the last time I was in a hospital (to visit a friend), I caught a virus that made me sick for a month!
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2 comments:
Love this story ... so true! We have the same situation except, if we go to the ER for anything and we aren't admitted, then we have to pay 10% of the enormous bill. So I guess the answer is never to have an emergency. What a system we have. I hope we can figure this out!
People like to think our healthcare situation is not in trouble. So untrue, as they often learn to their regret after an emergency or illness.
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