Y'all want to know how messed up the American healthcare system is???
Every 12 weeks I get a birth control shot. This is for several reasons, but most important being exploding cysts on my ovaries (yay). The birth control prescription itself is completely free under the Affordable Care Act.
In 2021, I was charged $4.31 to go to the gynecologist, take a pregnancy test, and get injected. The pregnancy test was not fully covered, which is why I paid $4.31. I find that reasonable.
In 2022, I was a charged a specialist copay of $100 for the same exact services. I broke down crying in the waiting room, because $4 is easier to swing in a budget than $100. I refused to pay the copay and they sent me a bill for $105.
I have been fighting my insurance company, alongside the head of my HR department, for two months. She's awesome and is completely on my side. The insurance company has been jerking us around and not answering our questions.
Yesterday they sent us an email stating I was billed a specialist copay because, I saw a specialist. Then they followed it up with this statement: "Specialist Physician: A physician who has a majority of his or her practice in areas other than general pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, family practice or general medicine."
This is American healthcare. THIS. The American healthcare system is not made for sick people. It's a greedy scam that sucks the money out of people who need it the most.
I see 4 specialists a year, sometime more due to my health conditions. I can pay $400 any given year, plus overages. Now they want me to pay an extra $400 a year for a service that is supposed to be covered. That's about $1000 a year that is NOT applied to my deductible or my out-of-pocket maximum.
Welcome to America. Home of the healthy, because if you can't afford healthcare you're basically dead.