Sometimes it just doesn’t matter how well
prepared you are to handle your health care. Take the story of Steve for
example.
Steve has a good job and health insurance that
covers, what he thought was pretty much everything that life could throw at
him.
But one day Steve was in need of immediate
care and so he called his doctor. He was shocked to learn that his primary care
doctor was not available and so he was advised to go to a local Emergency Room
to get the treatment that he needed.
He checked to make sure that this hospital was
in his network and then dashed off to the ER to get his situation taken care
of.
On his way home Steve smiled to himself and
thought how lucky he was that he didn’t have to wait too long, he was feeling
very little discomfort and would be back to normal in a few days. Little did he
know, however, of the deluge of bills he was soon to receive.
The first bill to arrive was from the
Emergency Room doctor who saw him on arrival. Then came the bill from the
radiologist that looked at his X-rays. Steve was shocked!
The actual hospital was In-Network, but the
doctor and radiologist and other specialists were out of network. Steve did
everything right. He checked his insurance before he left, he paid his copay at
the hospital but he still ended up with a bill for over $2,000! He’s fortunate
though. Some people find out they are responsible for many more thousands of
dollars worth of out of network emergency room care!
Sometimes, the doctors you will see in the ER
are not employed by the hospital and so they will bill your insurance
separately. Studies show that up to 22 percent of ER patients think that they
are covered just because the hospital is on their plan but they get billed by
each specialist who treats them.
There are some events that require an ER such
as:
●
Bleeding
that is uncontrollable
●
Heart
Attack
●
Losing
consciousness
●
An accident
or major trauma
Urgent Care or Walk-in Clinics in Los Gatos
can cover:
●
Fevers,
headaches, coughs
●
Immunizations
●
Yearly
physicals
●
Flu
●
Sprains
●
Xrays
●
Abdominal
pain
●
Minor cuts
that require stitches
●
Vomiting/diarrhea
●
Ear/eye
pain, redness or itchiness
While the emergency room can treat all of the
things your Urgent-care center in Los Gatos can treat, the
urgent-care center may not be able to treat conditions that the ER is equipped
to. But if you have the choice, it is advised to choose your Walk-in clinic in
Los Gatos.
Billing is transparent. You always know what
you will pay for each service rendered. Average wait times in the ER are 2 ½
hours whereas wait times at Urgent Care are between 15-45 minutes.
