Deborah Does Navel-Gazing

I think I’ve come up with a great way to save money on medical bills. Let’s face it, they can be ridiculously high, and not everything is covered by insurance. Even though I have good medical insurance from UC Berkeley, we still get billed $50 for emergency room visits, $35 higher than the copay at the doctors office.

I can only assume the higher copay for the emergency room is to discourage you from going there. Because, you know, it’s such a blast. If Lawrence’s pediatrician had been willing to meet us at his office on Saturday a month ago when he dislocated his toe, do you think I would have said, “Naw, we’d prefer to wait in the emergency room for a few hours instead, trying to keep a bored and hurting child amused. Thanks anyway, Doc.” Actually, believe it or not, our insurance company wanted us to to get permission from the doctor before going to the emergency room. As you might guess, I said, “Screw that,” and called the doctor while we already on our way there. I mean, for crying out loud, part of my son’s toe was sticking out at a right angle.

Read on