We had to take our dog to the doggie ER at 4am Friday. He’s fine, but it was scary. Probably more so for us than for him. Once they thought about what treatment they wanted to do, they presented us with two estimates. One was for the minimum care and the other was for the ideal care. The second included x-rays, etc.
We decided on which course of action we wanted, they had us sign the estimate, then they took our doggie away for some treatment in back.
Afterward we went to pay the bill and it was exactly the same as the estimate.
Today I opened the mail and we have an Explanation of Benefits from our (human) health insurance company, telling us that we are responsible for $171.39 for an ultrasound one of us recently received. How come we didn’t know that in advance? Why didn’t the doctor’s office tell us what the fees would be? We paid our co-pay, and I guess in some self-induced health care fantasy, I thought that would cover the day’s activities.
Why do our pets receive up-front information and we don’t?
The thing is, I had an x-ray a few months ago. You might remember my ranting about needing physical therapy, but having to have an x-ray before I could get cleared for PT. I didn’t think to ask in advance, what that x-ray would cost me, but afterward I did call and ask. And got a complete runaround. I can only imagine what would have happened had I asked at the check-in desk.
We need to make this simpler. When you sign that “financial responsibility” form at a Doctor’s office, you really have no idea what you’re agreeing to, not until the bill comes. When did we, as Americans, agree to that?
Oh, and Tucker is 98% back to normal now, thank G-d. We were very scared, but he’ll be okay.
The human bills are always a surprise. After your visit with the nose doctor you’re going to have to go visit the heart doctor cause your last bill was so shocking. After you get the bill for the heart doctor you’d want to go see a psychiatrist because you’re so depressed from all the bills you can’t pay off. The medication will give you complication and you might have to see the kidney doctor… and it keeps going 😛
This is something I’ve never given thought to, but you are so totally right! Whenever I go to the doctor, I pay what I have to and wait anxiously for a few months for another “surprise” bill to show. Why? Like you, when I bring my dog to the vet, I know, in advance, EXACTLY what I am going to pay.