The whole being-in-charge-of-your-own-healthcare thing is going quite poorly. This morning, I called my doctor's office to check on the price of a test that may or may not be covered by my insurance. Chances are that I'll have the test done regardless of whether it's covered by insurance, but I'd like to know ahead of time how much I'm going to have to pay. Because knowing that kind of thing helps prevent heart attacks upon finding a ridiculously high bill in the mail. Plus, if it's too ludicrously expensive, I'd like the opportunity to refuse the test BEFORE they take another five gallons of blood from me. So in the interest of being an informed consumer, I made the call.
Me: Hi, I'm calling to find out about the cost of Test X if insurance doesn't pay for any of it.
Billing Agent: Well, it'll depend on whether your insurance pays for some of it.
Me: No. I want to know just the cost of the test. If insurance didn't cover any of the cost, what would I have to pay?
BA: That depends on your insurance.
Me: O...kay. What if I didn't have any insurance? Then how much would it be?
BA: Well, we accept Medicare. And if you're not insured, we can have one of our insurance experts talk to you about applying for Medicare.
Me: No, I AM insured. I just want to know the cost of the test. Ok, suppose I told you that I didn't want you to file a claim with my insurance for this test and I wanted to pay for it out of pocket. How much would it cost then?
BA: Ma'am, you're going to have to call back this afternoon and talk to my manager.
WHY is it so hard to get the answer to a simple, little question?
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