Rant #3,909: Pay the Piper

Tests, tests and more tests ...

I hated them as a student in school--from kindergarten through graduate school--and I hate them now--as an adult through medical exams.

I have had them this week, I will have them next week, and every new week brings new health tests.

Not only is it taxing on my psyche, it is taxing on my pocketbook.

When you are forced to use Medicare as your only source of health insurance, you are getting near the bottom of the barrel for coverage.

It is a step above Medicaid, but when you really look at it, it is not a giant step above it, just a small step.

Unless you are wealthy and can invest a lot of money in your plan to keep costs down, you are stuck with a plan that doesn't cover that much and where the co-pays are astronomical.

And if you are sick and/or you need constant testing, well, you are outta luck.

Your pocketbook is going to be taking a hit--

Mine has, for sure.

My deductibles are high because that is all I can afford with my measly Social Security and wages.

So for certain things, I have to pay a high price for coverage.

I found that out the other day related to my latest catscan, which I will be taking today.

I received a text to pre-register for my visit to the radiology office, and after I completed everything, I found that they were charging me four times as much for this particular catscan as for any other I have ever taken.

I quickly questioned this over the phone, but every operator I spoke to had no explanation, other than it was related to my deductible, and even though the price was high, it could actually be even higher if they went strictly by the deductible.

I called both the radiology center and my insurance company, and I all I got from them were non-explanations about why this time, the catscan price was four times as high as normal.

After about two hours of this, I was instructed to contact my doctor's office, and find out what code they put in for this particular catscan--was it a "chronic" code--which would lead to a lower, and normal for me, price, or the "catscan" code, which would lead to the higher price.

Just imagine what I went through when I contacted my doctor. They must have though I sounded like a real idiot about this--

And they, too, passed the buck, telling me that they were going to contact the radiology center where I was to get the catscan, and they would contact me about an explanation--

Which they did.

I spoke to the office administrator at the center, who offered me the real reason why I was being charged four times as much for this catscan as compared to any other I have recently had.

According to her, most radiology places charge patients an initial lower price for the catscan in person, but then a followup bill is sent to the person later on to account for the other money owed for the catscan.

So, according to her, those getting catscans generally pay twice for the procedure--once while at the office, and another time with a bill sent through the mail.

The difference this time is that this radiology center--which I have never been to--doesn't do that, preferring to collect all monies owed by the patient up front and right then and there.

No second bills, the bill is paid in full at the time of your visit.

Yes, they will accept partial payment at the time of visit, but you will have to eventually pay the remainder of what you owe at another time.

Thinking of my other recent catscans, I honestly don't remember getting a second bill for any of them, but maybe I have and didn't realize that it was for this reason.

I will have to check my check register ...

But funny, I don't remember a single catscan resulting in another bill.

Maybe it would come months later, months after the catscan, so perhaps I will be getting bills in the mail in the coming days or months, but let me tell you, I have yet to receive any of them--

And I don't ever remember getting a second bill for a catscan.

But so be it.

This is the way this place does it, so I am just going to have to live with it--

And pay for the bill down the line.

Health insurance has changed drastically over the years, with costs rising as more of us live to ripe old ages.

A high percentage of our money goes for health costs, and it is getting worse each and every year.

I guess that now, at age 68 with age 69 right around the corner, I am in that category, where personal health costs are spiraling out of control.

My advice to anyone is to get the best health plan that you can afford once you have to use Medicare, or keep your old plan once you retire if it is part of your benefits/retirement package.

You aren't going to get a very good plan out of Medicare, take it from me.

And as they take my money from me, I know that to be a fact.