Doctor’s visit and couple words about health insurance
It turned out that on this trip of mine we did not visit new sights, but mostly we receive guests and go to visit ourselves.
Firstly, in connection with the move to a new house, it was necessary to invite all Russian-speaking friends, then American friends from my daughter’s work, then from my son-in-law’s work were invited. Recently, friends from Canada came with their children. They are from Rostov, but moved to Canada seven years ago. And now, our relatives from Boston are coming for a week. They rented a hotel, but the whole week is already scheduled with whom and where we meet. True, Arizona children start school in August. For some, it started on August 3, and our child goes to school on the 8th. Children from Boston, since they studied until June 22nd, go to school in September.
The grandson is going back to the new Basis Scottsdale school, again all the new teachers and a lot of new children, but he can’t wait for the school to start.
On Thursday, August 4, Mark complained that he had a sore throat. My daughter was afraid that he would get sick before the start of the school year, and made him an appointment with the pediatrician for Friday. Here, doctors don’t visit you at home even if the child has a high fever. You pick up the patient, put them in a car and take them to the hospital to see your doctor (by making an appointment in advance if the doctor has free time) or you take them to the emergency room.
Visiting a children’s hospital is a separate issue. We arrived at the appointed time in 10 minutes. There is not a single patient in the hospital. Two entrances: one for sick children, the other entrance for healthy ones. The reception noted their insurance, paid 10 dollars for an appointment. Exactly at the appointed time, we were invited to enter the nurse. The nurse always first measures the temperature, weighs, because if antibiotics are prescribed, then strictly according to the patient’s weight, she immediately takes a swab from the throat and sends it to the laboratory for analysis.
Then we were invited to the office, where a minute later a doctor came with a laptop. The doctor, in the manner of communicating with children inherent in Americans, fooled around with his grandson, laughed, joked while he examined him. Then he “clicked” quickly on his laptop, asked for our new address and looked on the computer which pharmacy is now closest to us. The fact is that when the results of the analysis come to the hospital or when the diagnosis is pronounced, the doctor immediately gives an appointment to the pharmacy, they prepare the medicine and the pharmacy already calls on the phone to come and pick it up. It often happened that they were driving home from the hospital, and the pharmacy was already calling that the medicine was ready.
After visiting the doctor, we left through the same entrance /exit for sick children. At the exit, there was a sanitizer spray, we disinfected our hands and left. At first glance, everything is very cool, if not for the payment for medicine. Ten dollars is only a partial payment, then the doctor bills your insurance company and how much your insurance covers, and how much you will then be billed for payment, you never know. It depends on the type of insurance, on its monthly cost, what it covers and what it doesn’t.
The doctor, in the manner of communicating with children inherent in Americans, fooled around with his grandson, laughed, joked while he examined him.
For example, in past years, the children had family insurance of $600 a month, but they had to pay a decent amount separately for teeth and eyes. And it’s also disgusting that you can visit a doctor in May, and the bill can come, for example, in September-October. You will already forget that you were treated and whether you were provided with the types of services that were entered on the bill. As was the case with his grandson, when he jumped unsuccessfully in kindergarten and broke the bones in his toes. He was prescribed a ready-made plaster boot, and the doctor wrote that there was an operation and this and that…
That is why it is also very important to choose a good doctor, to whom you travel for a bunch of miles. This year the children have taken other insurance. It is cheaper, but with less medical coverage ($400 per month). We opened a special savings account for money. services, where another $200 is deducted monthly. This amount is not subject to income tax and the company adds $600 per year. Money from this account can only be spent on medical services, and if you take it away to spend on something else before a certain age (it seems, before 65), you will have to pay taxes, and the amount will seriously decrease. With such a score, it’s good when you get sick a little and don’t go to the doctors, so here (in my opinion) a lot of Americans drink little, don’t smoke, and play a lot of sports.
I must say that not all states deal with medicine in the same way. For example, in Massachusetts, where our relatives live, my aunt does not praise medicine. There is a special medical program for people over 70 and she got a lens replacement in one eye, dentures, regular general check-ups and everything is covered by her insurance. True, she does not know how much her children pay for this insurance :))). And the workers, of course, have to pay a lot for medicine.
