Scott Schiff-Slater, a family physician in central Maine, knows how the system works and did all the “right” things, and was still billed hundreds of dollars more than expected for a medical procedure.
“…although I have excellent health insurance, and the procedure was fully approved, my out-of-pocket expense was $1,029.84 – well above my $180 co-payment. The reason, I learned, is that I was given one dose of nitroglycerin … If nitroglycerin is purchased at a pharmacy, insurance will cover it. If you don’t have insurance at all, it might be a few dollars. The hospital charge, my out-of-pocket expense for this one dose of nitroglycerin, was $849.84.”
Opinion: Physicians like me know our health care system must change