How much does a DR visit usually cost you?

I'm talking human doctor here. I think I need to see the dr tomorrow oir soon. And it will be the first time since DH got out of the military that I have needed to. Before then I was seeing a military dr because I was still a dependant of my stepfather.

Soooo...I'm totally not wanting to go. (I think I have a UTI) I know I have a $20 co-pay. But I'm still really confused over how health insurance and that junk works. I've not even seen this dr yet because I've been waiting on my medical records to get copied. I have no idea about how much this will cost us in the end.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Will they bill me right there for everything since I've not paid towards my deductible? (I'm still not positive what a deductible is!) Or should I just be prepared to pay the co-pay?
2. About how much does it cost you for that sort of visit? (I know it will be different but I'd at least like some idea.)

If anyone can help me understand this, I will reallllllllllly appreciate it!

You should only have to pay your copay up front and then they will bill your insurance, your insurance will adjust the charge if they think it is too high and your insurance will then bill you for the remainder of the bill.

Most of the time if it is more than you can pay, they will set it up in smaller payments for you. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield and thats how ours works anyway.

Hope that helped!

Big Fat zero for me Good ol' high taxes in Ontario allow me to have free health care.

I normally pay my $15 or $30 copay (depending on if it is a specialist or not) up front. Do you have your insurance card yet? They will want to see that. If for some reason there are extra fees, they will normally bill you.

You'll probably just have to pay the co-pay at the visit. It's hard to answer your question without knowing the details of your health plan. The rules vary widely from plan to plan.

If you have a deductible, you'll pay the co-pay when you go in and then the Dr.'s office will bill the insurance company. The insurance company will tell them what they can actually charge, and then tell them to bill you. LOL

Basically, a deductible is how much you have to pay out of pocket before your insurance actually kicks in. Hopefully your insurance is better than mine and doesn't decide that 3/4 of the services don't apply to the deductible.

Oh, and my last visit to the Dr., after the insurance adjustments, was $85 billed to me. With my plan, I have to call the physician's office myself to work out any payment plans, which I will have to do with the $250 bill (that doesn't count toward my $300 deductible) for labwork that wasn't through the insurance company's "preferred lab" (in other words, if my doctor doesn't send the labs to one particular lab, I have to pay 100%). Be sure to check to make sure there isn't a catch like that before you go in.

Thanks for your replies. I do have Blue Cross Blue Shield. My deductible is really high...I mean like more than $1000 because I cover both DH and I on it. I think I understand a little better. So long as they aren't going to be looking for lots of money tomorrow! I'm still praying I won't have to go!

We are very lucky with health care. My hubby spent more then 20yrs in the Navy most of that before I met him, we pay $345.00 a year, $12.00 office call and $3.00 and 9.00 for medication that's it, no matter what's done...

I would say that I pay perhaps 100 dollars per visit, plus yearly insurance. Quite reasonable, in my opinion.

When I had insurence I paid 45$ copay and then 20% of the allowable charge and I paid them 177 a month for that ...

Now I have no insurence and pay urgent care 45-90 a visit , usually get samples or I use this poor peoples discount card( it is nice ) and pay for the meds ... I am thinking about getting isurence again but I cant seem to make it worthwhile , unless a caustatophy happened( at which time I would qualify for all kinds of help)

My asthma doc charges $50 a visit, for a basic visit. I usually pay $40, because he has a discount for people without insurance. I went to one of those occupational health places not too long ago for an upper resp. infection and that cost $80. If you call your doctor they will tell you how much a visit costs. I did that with my dentist ($60 for a hygenist visit) and they didn't mind at all.

So, this is kind of a highjack, but can someone tell me why you pay so much for healthcare? Do you pay low taxes in the US?

I can't imagine paying to go to the doctor, that would totally suck.

My copay is $10 bucks but they said it was going up to $20.

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

So, this is kind of a highjack, but can someone tell me why you pay so much for healthcare? Do you pay low taxes in the US?

I can't imagine paying to go to the doctor, that would totally suck.

Click to expand...

Well, one main thing is healthcare is not controlled by the government, it is a private enterprise, and like someone else said healthcare plans can vary widely from one to another. I do believe we pay less tax than ya'll Canadians, but it sure doesn't feel like it
I have my health insurance through my job, and I pay $15 for a office visit, and have discount prescription coverage also- My company pays the premiums, I personally feel that I have excelleant insurance

Low taxes here Not !!!! everything is taxed here, like katiemae said its a private type deal, Mine isn't much though just because my hubby is retired from the navy, My daughter has health insurance through her husbands work and I think they still pay about $400.00 a month plus copays and whatever there cost is for drugs. Its a shame there are so many people in the US that have no coverage,

I am sooo lucky in this dept. Hubby is in the Union and we have Personal Choice....I can go anywhere I want for anything with a $5 copay....and don't need any referrals! And my prescriptions are $5, unless it's something crazy or way expensive then it's $10! All he pays is union dues... $26 per month for our whole family! Thank goodness!

I'm on my mom's insurance, which she pays through the nose for-- I think it's at least 25% of her paycheck goes to insurance. Before taxes.

I pay 15$ copay on doctor, 115$ on ER visits, and a weird percentage on other stuff including prescriptions (I have one prescription thats like 12$ a month and my copay is 10$!!!). And that's if it's in-network. If it's out of network you have to pay for everything or at least half or... it's sooooo complicated. And I have a wierd discount plan thing for dental and vision that isn't really insurance but helps out alot.

However, being a college student is awesome because most of them provide your health care the way countries with universal health care do. Here, doctor visits are plain old free, and then you pay a little bit for other stuff. For instance, they have an x-ray machine and I believe a full x-ray workup of my ankle was only 30$ total cost to me, and without insurance. Blood work and such they have to send out, so that's a little more, I think you just pay pretty much what it costs them to have it sent to the lab, no extra. If only all health care in America was like that...

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Big Fat zero for me

Good ol' high taxes in Ontario allow me to have free health care.

Click to expand...

Paying to just see a doctor must suck!

Well, I'm with Troutsmom - we don't pay for regular doctor's visits in Ontario. Dentist and eye exams are another thing entirely, and now some surgeries are no longer covered but most still are! I also have private insurance (thorugh work) that pays 80% of drug costs, covers hospitalization and covers a lot of procedures etc that OHIP doesn't -well worth the cost!