How To Save Money At The Doctor

May 3, 2012 robot Health

When I was sick as a child, whatever medication, operation or treatment the medical practitioners suggested, my dad and mom would say, “Absolutely” to.

 

So, I took a cue from them and figured that anything a doctor advised was absolutely necessary.

 

Now I realize my parents were looking after their baby girl—of course they were willing to pull out all the stops on helping her get better.

 

I’m not saying to care less about your own wellness than your mother and father did for you when you were a kid, but I am suggesting to be aware of the truth that many of their “Absolutely”’s to the physician came from their continual worry that they weren’t being the very best parents they could be.

 

In reality, doctors suggest a lot of treatments which aren’t totally necessary. I began to look into what I was being billed for come check out time when I got a $700 bill after being seen for a fractured ankle.

 

I was a new college grad and for the first time entirely financially responsible for myself. That doctor’s visit was going to cost me a month’s rent.

 

The visit wasn’t completed yet, and that bill reflected things the physicianl had suggested I receive, but that I had not yet. I asked the nurse to tell me the run down of the suggested treatment options. It all sounded about right except for one treatment: steroid injections for $300.

 

$300?!

 

So then I inquired, “Are the injections necessary?” The nurse dodged the question with “They will make you feel better faster.”

 

“Okay, but are they necessary?” I pushed. And added, “Will I be not able to heal if I don’t get them?”

 

 

“You will recover in 10 days as opposed to maybe just 5 days,” finally the nurse offered me a somewhat clear response.

 

I wasn’t in unbarable pain. I did not have to shell out $300 to speed up the healing process by a measly 5 days. So I rejected the injections and shrunk my bill down to $400.

 

I’m learning more and more that my mother and father have been overly causcious, and over charged when I was a kid. I greatly appreciate it, but I’m learning to be a bit more monetarily cautious now.

 

I’m not the only one. A pal of mine who is teachingsinging lessons in LAdid something odd to her arm one day while playing the piano to accompany a student who had come to learn to sing better. My close friend, the voice coach,could barely move her wrist for the next day and almost went to the hospital when I told her, “Wait. I couldn’t move my ankle for two days and I went to the doctor at the end of the 2nd day. The doctor didn’t give me any meds or any treatment for it. They just figured out what it was. That cost me $400 and you know what? On the morning of day 3, my ankle was 100% returned to normal all on it’s own.”

 

So, regardless of her pain, my friend stoped and low and behold, two days later, much of her pain was gone. And a feasible $400 from her financial institution account wasn’t.

 

I absolutely support medical doctors and being aware of your wellness. If you sense you are dealing with some type of bacterial infection or virus, I say go to the physician immediately.

 

BUT, if you’re dealing with a muscle pain, give it a couple of days. The human body has an remarkable capacity for healing itself.