OK, so I had to go part time in 2022 because of my husband’s Parkinson’s. I needed to be home much more. I opted not sign up for the ACA because I was pretty healthy and only had a couple of years to go. So, as I should have expected, I’ve started having more physical issues. Not to go into complete detail my knees and feet artheritis have flared. I had been getting hyalgin every few years and it was working for a few years at a time. Then I started having vertigo which I still have, but it seems to be the new normal etc.
This year I signed up, picked a plan I could afford that does not include my doctor. Anything that he participated with was out of my price range. I’m now trying to find a doctor that can see me in fewer than 4 to 6 months. My doctor doesn’t want to write my prescription for Valium (or at least his staff won’t ask him) without seeing me and that would cost me 100.00+ . I owe them for the last appt. that I’ve been paying on and suddenly the woman I spoke to today doesn’t know why I was told I could make payments if I paid 125.00 instead of 100.00 because it was supposed to be paid at the time. Apparently that is not their office procedure. Weird I’ve done it before and that is exactly what the woman I paid half of the amount due told me at the time.
I’m thinking of just waiting another year for medicare.
Do you mean primary care? Have you tried calling the insurer for help in finding a PCP in their network?
Otherwise - what’s your copay for Urgent Care? Insurance companies often set them quite low (maybe $50) because they really don’t want people going to the ER.
A third possibility is Teladoc or similar - video consultation. Insurers love those too, and copay is often zero. No guarantee that they’d give you the prescription you want, but if it costs nothing and all you’re looking for is a prescription renewal it could be worth trying.
I’d have to check. I don’t think it was much because I tried to balance co-pay and deductibles. It appears to be my next step. The insurers web site is not helpful. I looked up one doctor they said practiced near by, but actually practices at a related facility over an hour away.
Well, the Valium would be nice on occasion. Usually a months worth lasts me 6 months which is why I hadn’t seen my doctor for a while. But it’s my freakin’ knee. It’s killing me. Doc told me once the hyalgan quit working I’d be up for knee replacement. My foot is mysteriously painful too (right knee left foot). I work on my feet, and taking care of my husband is physically taxing. He had to help me up when I was putting his socks on after his shower tonight. I told him: “It’s the blind leading the blind isn’t it?”
If anyone is interested I found a doctor that I can see by Feb. 4th. They won’t address all of my issues in one appt. so I figured I’d have her check out whatever is worse when I get there. Right now it’s asthma by then I might have cycled to my knee/foot, or back to vertigo. Yee ha that’s what I get for not having insurance for a year. I’m pretty glad I at least have a choice now.
I’d like to thank who ever it was above who suggested contacting the insurance company. The website had so many pages and half of them didn’t apply to me. She (the customer service rep.) e-mailed me a list of PCP’s in my area. It really made the search easier.
This new doctor is associated with a health system that I like much better then the system the first
doctor was associated with. That makes me very happy. In our interminable healthcare journey with my husband, we’ve had multiple issues with the system/hospitals the first doctor works with. I really didn’t want to deal with that crap again.
So, all and all good news and lowered anxiety. 