How to Save 97.7% on Healthcare (she said)
23 Aug 2011 by HeatherLet me digress from our adventures and musings for a moment …
Last week I visited my foot doctor. I had been experiencing some discomfort in my foot for several months, and while running through the leafy hills near our home at Lake Barcroft my foot began to hurt – a lot. I quit running after 3 miles and limped home. I didn’t run again for a week, and the pain subsided to the ‘mildly annoying’ category. However, it didn’t get better. After a week staying off my foot almost entirely proved ineffective, I went to the doctor.
Dr. Cannon’s diagnosis took about 30 seconds. I described my pain, he gently probed the bottom my foot (here? YES!) and promptly ordered an Xray. Once the film came back from the lab it was obvious that my foot was broken – one of the sesamoid bones on my right foot was fractured. He immediately strapped me into a walking boot and explained that I would need to wear this contraption for the next four months.
Knowing that I like to be active, Dr. Cannon prescribed an ultrasonic bone stimulator to speed my recovery. He passed my name along to the folks selling the Exogen 4000 which I believe is the only ultrasonic stimulator currently on the market. This is where it gets interesting.
We have a high-deductible health insurance plan. For those of you blissfully unaware of what that means, we pay nearly $500 a month for the privilege of paying the first $10,000 of our own medical expenses each year. Oh, and because we are so ‘unheathy’ we are actually lucky to purchase insurance at all. We’ve been rejected in the past – and we’re (relatively) young and healthy! Our insurance company touts their prowess at negotiating excellent prices from doctors and hospitals. So, even if our bills never mount to over $10,000 per year, our insurance supposedly still saves us money.
Once the folks at Smith and Nephew (the manufacturer) talked with my insurance company, they contacted me and told me that the insurance company’s negotiated rate for the unit was $4,500. But, the company would be willing to offer me a discount based on my financial situation since they are sympathetic to folks with high-deductible plans. After running through a quick analysis of our finances, the company offered me the bone stimulator for $3,825. However, if I simply purchased the bone stimulator directly from them and didn’t ask them to do any paperwork for my insurance company, the price was $675.
Seriously folks, who negotiates for my insurance company? I spent 5 minutes talking to a really nice woman from Smith and Nephew and without even trying was offered a price 85% less than the price negotiated by my insurer! I can’t adequately express my frustration at the status quo, but I won’t go into a diatribe on the state of American health care. This is a happy blog.
Here is where the story ends – Ebay. There are hundreds of bone stimulators for sale on Ebay! I purchased a used bone stimulator for $100. That is 97.7% less than the price originally negotiated by my insurance company. Insanity.
…. so I digress. Nuff said.