I'm curious.

pumpkinpumpkin

What does it cost...?In the US to visit your doctor? What would it cost if you didn't have insurance? I'm curious. Poster below said she can't afford to go to the doctor, it makes me sad.

sucrets4

Hmm, my copay is $25 every time I go to the dr.  I'm not sure how much it would be without insurance; maybe a few hundred?  And then there's also a % of labwork I have to pay and get a bill for after.For specialists it's more, I think $50.

vicmo5

It would cost a ridiculous amount.  The only time in my life that I didn't have insurance I had an abcess on my tonsil that cost me a trip to the ER on Christmas Eve.  Cost me about $2000 and I wasn't there for more than an hour.

MsGamblingGirl

If you have insurance? Free - $20 If you don't? $40-$100 around here. If you truly can't afford $40-$100 and you're sick you should be on medicaid. That's what it's for.

pumpkinpumpkin

Cost me about $2000 and I wasn't there for more than an hour. OMG.

shannonalise

I think you're referring to me. The last time I checked here where I live, most of the offices wouldn't even see me without a health insurance plan. There were three within 50 miles that would, but it was over $150 just to walk in the door. LAME.

lpstl

I work in the healthcare industry, physicians can set up a fee schedule for uninsured patients. So the fee for a simple office visit is entirely up to the physician office to set, but typically it is about $50. If your visit is more complicated it'll be extra, and if tests are ordered of course that's extra. Prescriptions are going to cost more unless you can get generic or samples.

bbyckes

I have insurance.  To see my doctor I pay a $20 co-pay.  But my insurance premiums are probably a little more than $250 monthly. I went for a couple of years without health insurance.  It was definitely a scary time.

vallyhoo

Not sure what it would cost if I didn't have insurance.My company uses a Health Savings Account plan with a high-value deductible. Each employee has to reach $1,500 in health care costs (including prescriptions) before the health insurance kicks in. Fortunately the company currently funds our HSA, but next year that is changing. I have just reached my plan deductible so for the remainder of the year everything will be covered 100%.

vicmo5

Plus if you don't have insurance most doctors will require that you pay up front.

Night_Sprite

I just had a yearly girl appointment.  Before insurance it was about $500.  After, it was about $30.  I also have really good insurance.  Insurance costs differ depending on your employer.  Independent insurance is way expensive.

shellydiane820

Well, for me (I'm uninsured)its about $85 to get my teeth cleanedI paid about $500 for my ob/gynand for a family physician if I get sick, around $85

raynes

Wow. Just wow. Thank you OHIP.

shannonalise

Oh lord... ER visits are THOUSANDS. It's completely ridiculous. One time (my first year without insurance) I came down with a HORRIBLY nasty flu and became severely dehydrated from vomiting - my neighbor drove me to the ER and I got a bill for $13,500 for having a doctor see me and give me two bags of fluids through an IV. I was there for about 2 hours.

ring_pop

Thanks for this post pumpkin. I've been curious too. Wow. I can't imagine.

lpstl

I have never, ever heard of a physician refusing to accept uninsured patients. I'm not even sure that's legal.

Night_Sprite

Did you end up having to pay that, Shannon?

crfische

What does it cost...?In the US to visit your doctor? 20 dollars co-pay and then I usually get a bill for whatever my insurance doesn't cover.What would it cost if you didn't have insurance? I have no freakin' clue.I have good insurance Blue Cross blue shield, and when I went kerplunk on my tail bone, I paid 20 bucks on the spot, and I just got a bill for 113.00. Which covered my 20 minute doctor appointment and my two bottles of pills. If I didn't have insurance it looks like it would have been around 500 bucks.

shellydiane820

...oh and my dermatologist is about $180.  I have to get shots for my skin.

shannonalise

I'm not sure why! That's what nearly everyone told me when I called. Maybe they were wrong? Receptionists who were not sure? I don't know. Sucks! Either way, for the few that would have taken me for $150 to walk in the door, I'm going to have to be PRETTY SICK to pay that kind of price.

crfische

I'll also tell you that my brother just got his hospital bill from their baby delivery. They also have good insurance and the final bill that they were responsible for was 1,750.

smokeybailey

My copay for office visits is $15 and depending on the script, my copay for drugs is anywhere from $5 to $25.  My last time to the ER was probably around $2k but my copay was $50.When I was uninsured and making no money, a visit to my mom's doctor was $56.  However, I used a neighborhood women's clinic for all of my lady part check ups.  That and BCP was free.  I agree with the PP who said that if you can't afford to pay the $40-$100 for a visit, then you should consider Medicaid.Also, there are plans like TONIK from Blue Cross/Shield that are targeted at young, relatively healthy people who don't visit the doctor very often.  I am not sure of the coverage and which states it's in, but my sister bought that when she was buying her own insurance.  It's a consideration.

pumpkinpumpkin

I can't imagine either. I was curious because of the post below, she couldn't afford to go...so I wondered if it was $100 or $200 or more? If I lived in the US, was un-insured, and suffered from the migraines i used to, I would hands down spend up to $250 to go see the doctor. The perscription I'm on is cheap. Mind you, I think pills are cheaper in Canada, too.

cougarette

I also have a high deductible plan with a company-funded HSA (I contribute $27 a month into it too). When I went to my doctor it was $60-something, I think.

Leah&Christian09

My co-pay is $25. I didn't have insurance for a while a couple of years ago. I used to go to a walk in clinic. I'd pay $100 at the beginning and they'd send a check or a bill for the difference after the fact. For something simple it was as low as $50. When they thought I had strep and did the throat culture and some other stuff it was a couple hundred dollars. There were definately times when I didn't go to the doc b/c I was afraid it would be $200 and I didn't have that to spend. I was putting myself through undergrad. My planned parenthood Ob/Gyn annual was about $100 with a pap. They were on a sliding scale, but if you were a single woman w/o kids and earned more than $22K, you were at the top of the scale and paid full price. All this is about 5 years old, so I don't know if it is still accurate.

bbyckes

Shelley, with having to pay all that - can you not find an affordable insurance plan?  Are you one of the "uninsurables?"

crfische

Yeah, if I go in for yearly exams, they are pretty much free. Just the 20 dollar copay. And anything preventative is pretty much free if you have insurance.

AnneAndJJ

Wow! I never consider these costs, being Canadian and from Ontario, OHIP covers my doctor's visits, and I have insurance through school that covers my eye care, dental, etc (basically, stuff OHIP doesn't cover), at around 80%.

lindy.linder

not that this is comparable but I was looking at my medical bills the other day for a pro-active MRI/MRA test and I was floored at the cost. I paid a little under $1000 but without my insurance it was well over $5000. I felt lucky at that moment

lpstl

For anyone getting hit with expensive charges, you need to call the office or hospital and ask for a list of charge codes and corresponding fees. You don't even want to know how prevalent upcoding is in this country, especially for uninsured patients.

MsGamblingGirl

I'm of the mindset insurance is meant to be for catastrophic cases only. The fundamental problem with healthcare is trying to cover everything. Things like babies or getting a cold shouldn't be free. Catastrophic health insurance is very affordable and would cover things like your $13,000 ER bill.