I agree... amazing how a doctor makes a mistake and they still get paid AND gets paid again to fix it! My MIL had heart surgery about 8 years ago and they put the wrong valve in it. Had to open her up again the same day to fix it. gah! Double heart surgery!

I had an argument with may daughter's endocrine doc about my method of tx her hashimoto's thyroid problem. She said she wouldn't px her needed growth hormone if I didn't agree with the meds she wanted. I had no choice. Do it her way or walk out. Thankfully, I walked out and a couple months later she agreed to do it my way with no problem this time.

The system is messed up and it appears there is no solution to make everyone happy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
for whoever asked about details of insurance .... here is what we can choose from:

Insurance options with hubby's work:

$250-300 a month for blue cross & blue shield. I'm not sure what they all cover because we cannot afford it.


$40 a month for dental and it doesn't cover much. For all 7 of us to get a cleaning costs us approx $1000, plus add in about $35 for each filling. They only pay $500 per person for orthodontics (which cost $5000 or so). And all my kids need braces.

~ ~ ~ ~

We are blessed to have military retirement health insurance (which is a govt option) and most employers request we use that instead of their offered insurance. It is free for us up front.

If you go to a doc in their network, they pay 70% we pay 30% plus a copay which is about $20.

my recent example:
my rheumy visit was $375,
insurance paid them 152.78,
they wrote off 171.30
I had to pay $50.92

not bad for me, but looks like the drs lose.

If we don't use a doc in their network, we may have to pay part or all of the bill and we won't know until we get the explanation of benefits after the doc visit. There is no write off with these docs and we get to pay whatever the insurance doesn't pay.


Since I go to a doc that doesn't take insurance, I have to pay upfront. Her visits cost anywhere from $95 - $165 a visit. Blood labs are around $40.

Our px cost is excellent, though. My Celebrex ($200 normally) only costs me $3 - $9. I'm not sure what biologics would cost. I believe they pay most of my daughter's growth hormone therapy and that is about $1500 - $2000 a month.


It all gets so confusing after awhile and we always seem to have bills in the mail.

~ Trudi: homeschooling mom to 6: 16,14,11,9,7, 6 mos