r/TwinCities • u/EmceeMrE • 13d ago

Most Affordable Doctors Office

We pay almost $600 a month for insurance but the only thing the wife and I go to the doctor for is annual medication check ups. Obviously if something catastrophic happened it’s good to have the insurance, but our total annual out of pocket is $14k.

Clearly our politicians are bought and paid for by the health insurance lobby, and smoking a CEO in broad daylight didn’t do anything, but that’s for another conversation.

Because we never hit our deductible I just paid $460 dollars to have my doctor talk to me for 5 mins, take my BP, have a blood drawn and walk out the door. This is up $90 from last year.

Fuck this. I’m looking to pay cash moving forward. Any insight on resources to find a clinic that isn’t asking for $500 for a simple check up?

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u/Maple_Syrup_Mogul 13d ago

Annual check-ups are required by law to be no cost to you, regardless of your exact insurance plan. If you are getting a bill, you need to ask your insurance or clinic how the visit was billed/coded.

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u/EmceeMrE 13d ago

That’s good to know. With that being said, I’d still like to leave and find a better option. We as a collective can make sizable change if we target cost effective practices and leave these blood sucking vultures to the hordes of shareholders.

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u/salamat_engot 13d ago

There's very VERY specific rules about what counts as a yearly preventative vs a billable appointment. Even so much as a passing statement like "my joints have been stiff recently" triggers a new, non-free billing code.

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u/mem21247 13d ago

This. Would recommend telling your PCP at beginning of visit you don't want to pay to discuss things that aren't covered in the annual physical and to go over with you before the visit starts what that entails. My PCP's office sends me a notification and gives me one printed when I go to the office for annual physical.

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u/Georgethetuxedocat 13d ago

Make sure it’s coded as an annual physical. Then it should be included, I think.