by Tricia
I guess I should rephrase that title. I haven’t actually received my doctor bill, but I have received my benefits statement from my health insurance provider. It took almost 4 months to finally know how much I am going to have to pay for my doctor’s visit in March…$163.00. My health insurance doesn’t cover doctor visits, so I have to pay for all of that out of my own pocket.
I can’t complain about that fee, though. This visit was the one for my miscarriage and the doctor did spend a great deal of time with me. He spent at least and hour talking to me and suggesting things to do if I we were to plan on trying to have another child later. That time doesn’t even include the time he took to examine me. For once, I feel like I got what I paid for when it comes to medical care. I was thoroughly examined and counseled.
Now that I know what to expect, I can budget this bill in and pay it. The financial side of my miscarriage will be taken care of.
Emotionally, though, I needed some sense of closure to that day in March. Every time I thought about our finances I’d think about those bills and I’d think about that day. I am naturally a worry-wart and having a bill that I know is coming, yet I don’t know the amount, causes me a great deal of stress. Combine that with what the bill was for, and well, all I can say is I looking forward to paying it and moving on.
I know there have been some of you commenting about negotiating my medical bills and trying to get them to accept a lower rate. Part of me wanted to, and I had most of the money to pay the biggest bill (the hospital portion) for some time, but I was trying to get up the courage to negotiate with them. Just last week I finally sent the check out. I never did discuss it with them. I really wanted to see if I could save some money, but I didn’t want to even go in the building to talk to the billing department.
This is definitely an example of how your emotions can affect your finances.
