Healthcare Corruption

These two recent bills from the Diagnostic Clinic are indicative of why I am voting for a candidate with a healthcare plan.

My daughter smashed her thumb in the car door. It got infected and bled into itself. The only way to release the pressure was for the doctor to cut open her thumb. I went during office hours so I, of course, thought I’d be paying the office visit copay. The bill I received says my insurance company didn’t pay enough. They want me to pay an extra $128.50 for a “I&D Cyst/Abcess, Simple.” I should have just performed the procedure in my bathroom alone.

No one at the office will call me back to explain why I am being charged more than a copay – does the office copay only apply if they perform NO medical procedures there? Was the $103.50 the insurance paid and the $25 I paid not enough? Is $257 a reasonable amount for that kind of procedure? If so, based on what? Am I paying per minute? Per person it took to hold my daughter down during the procedure? Per instrument and materials used? How, exactly is the charge determined and why wasn’t I notified how much this might cost prior to the procedure being performed? While no one is calling me back they keep sending the same bill. I’ve written them please resubmit and sent the bill back. It’s been 120 days and now they are threatening to forward it to an outside collection agency.

I went to my annual exam for my pap smear. The doctor is charging $453.00 for swabbing my cervix and running some basic blood work. Supposedly, I’m insured and paid $25 for the copay and another $25 for the lab copay. The rest should be covered by my insurance company. Yet, I received a bill stating I owe $313. For what? Whatever it was that wasn’t covered – I DON’T WANT IT! Why did you perform tests that weren’t covered in the first place? Why do I only have knowledge of this after I get a bill?

I think it stops being a mistake when it happens so often it becomes office policy. Again, the Diagnostic Clinic has yet to return my calls. I find it’s the exception when am treated in a fair way by the medical community in America. Do yourself a favor and go see Sicko, then help me figure out what we’re going to do about this corruption.

Check out why I’m asking Christian Family Values voters to reexamine their values in regards to healthcare by applying the test: What Would Jesus Do?