How much is a visit to the DR?

No offense but that is like asking... "how much will it cost to fix my Ferrari?"

You need to provide some details for any useful answer...

 

I wasn't even sure what you meant at first. DR = Doctor or Delivery Room?

In any case, it would depend on your plan's fee contracts with providers, the duration of the exam/consultation, whether the provider is a GP or specialist, etc.

 

If you come in off the street with no insurance the rates are negotiable. With insurance the rates are pretty much through the roof.

 

Here in the Atlanta suburbs, a normal doctors visit is $60. This is for a regular checkup, flu, stomach bug, kids ailments, cuts, generally sick.... pretty much any visit that is typical regarding the amount of time the doctor spends with you.... generally less than 15 minutes.

This makes up about 95% of the medical assistance my family utilizes.

I know this because Blue Cross, Blue Shield PPO recently jacked my health insurance premiums to $900 per month for a family of 4. We had a $1500 deductible family PPO plan. The doctors visit co-pay was $20.

When got the notice of premium increase, I said enough is enough. $900 per month is pretty crazy. So I actually took the time to look for alternatives.

The BCBS deductible is NOT for the family as a whole. Its $1500 for me.... $1500 for my wife and $1500 for the kids. In the 5 years we had the policy, none of us ever went over $1500 toward the deductible.

I switched to an HSA program that has great insurance benefits but a family deductible of $10K. With this policy, I now pay $225 per month for insurance and the max allowed $450 per month into my HSA. So I am paying a total of $675 per month, but $450 of that is in my savings account and accumulates as my money.

With this coverage we have one deductible for the entire familiy of $10K. After $10K, they pay everything. But up to $10K, we pay everything. There is no co-pay.... its all WE pay. But we pay expenses out of our HSA, money that went into the HSA tax exempt and that continues to compound when not used.

If you tell your doctor you are going with a plan like this, and you will be paying cash for visits, I guaranty you they will give you VERY good pricing. Getting paid from insurance companies is worse than pulling teeth.




Terry

 

Exactly! Is that not part of the problem in this country? (Another being the outrageous prices of medications...)

 

I thought you meant the Dominican Republic!! lol

 

Terry, very useful and informative response. thanks

 

My plan is NOT through BCBS.... the new $10K deductible plan is through Golden Rule.

Go here:

www.ehealthinsurance.com

I found that site and in particular the customer service people available via phone to be EXTREMELY helpful. They realy understand how this crap works and can help you make a smart decision.

I basically decided that its far cheaper to just pay cash for medical care than to pay the crazy high premiums for insurance with a low co-pay and deductible. But I dont want to be financially ruined in the event of a major medical event. So, with a $10K total family deductible the max we could possibly be out of pocket is $10K. $450 of what I pay monthly in premium goes into MY savings account and accumulates tax exempt. In only several years I will have more than $10K in my HSA so my risk will be greatly reduced.

I think this sort of very high deductible program coupled with an HSA is by far the best way to go. My wife spent 2 days calling doctors offices, pharmacies, testing places (for MRI and such) to see what stuff would cost of we were paying cash when services were rendered. We found that some places quoted silly high prices, but most were willing to provide services at VERY reasonable prices. Given the difference in insurance premium charges, we would have to be one really sick family to warrant the BCBS type PPO program.



Terry

 

I thought he meant Dominican Republic

 

Really? Where? I thought the rates were different but I didn't know they were negotiable.

I have a friend who's a cosmetic dentist, some guy walked in off the street and tried to bargin with him for a crown. Needless to say, it didn't go over too well.

 

I have found that if you have no ins. the rates are not negotiable at all. if you have insurance, they are negot....the ins. co. has already negotiated smaller amounts....so basically a "normal checkup" with insur is 80 bucks, paid by ins. because that's what they negotiated. With no ins. the same check up is 130.00 (here in Columbus Ohio) and they don't budge on the price. Which is so stupid that people without ins. get charged more than people with. this is my direct experience.

 

I just read the comment about the dentist....about a year ago I was on this board asking about veneers and cosmetic dentistry. I found 2 dentists in the area that would give me 8 veneers for about 11k.....I was going to pay in cash, and because of this board and it's useful info I was aware that the actual COST of the veneers to the dentist was about 1500.00. So I asked both dentists (unbeknownst to each other) that I could pay in cash and I offered 9500.00...........they wouldn't budge at all. Pissed me off....so I didn't get the work done yet.

 

My wife had to go to the dr. last week for a routine visit; she had a bladder infection in the making. She's used up her office visit copays for this year, so it was all oop...$80, free antibiotic samples which did the job.

We're on a high-deductible major illness/catastrophic type plan as well, but do they copay for prescriptions and several routine office visits a year.

With the mortgage a thing of the past, medical/health ins. is our biggest expense because of age and wife's long-ongoing illness...but, on the positive side, it's also a large fed tax writeoff.

 

My sister in law had to go to the doctors consistently for almost 3 weeks. She was averaging a temp of 103. We were all worried and the doctors had no clue what was up....Anyways, test after test after test, and a couple of overnight stays, her bill was almost 30k! ! ! ! I don't remember what her co-pay or whatever cost she incurred, but it was only around the 500-800 dollar mark....

 

When my wife had her gallbladder removed, the hospital bill for the surgery and two days in the hospital was $31,000. I'll never forget one item on the bill: Misc. $5,000.

Because the hospital had a contract with our insurance company, they accepted about $4,500 as payment in full. Had we not had insurance, they said that we would have had to pay the 31k.

Incredible. I'm on staff at one of our local hospitals and still can't believe some of the fees that are charged.

 

to the original poster should be between 50-100 dollars.. Do you have a dr. you visit regularly under insurance, but no longer have the ins? some are pretty good in those cases for price.. give them a call and ask if you pay in full it is sometimes cheaper than if they bill you and from what I have found they give you breaks if you do not have health insurance..such as med samples

 

When I broke my leg earlier this year the bill came to $56,000. It cost me $138 for them to revive me when they accidentally killed me. Cracked me up to see "revived patient" as a line item on the bill.

My wife went in after she burned her hand, and the base cost for her visit was $90. I have no idea why it was so cheap.