Healthcare Savvy

Last December, I was high on CrossFit, the boot camp-style exercise regimen that’s a cross between seventh-grade gym and the Marines. My box — aka gym — was run by a former Navy SEAL, and I found his enthusiasm contagious. There were a lot of middle-aged women in the class like me, and together we were getting really good results: pounds and inches dropped. More importantly, my blood sugar numbers were better than they had been in years.

Then I made the bone-headed move of lifting too much weight above my head. The bar literally came down on my head, and I felt an immediate twinge in my right shoulder. Didn’t hurt too bad at first, so I waited it out, hoping it would get better.

Unfortunately, I waited until the new year, when my company’s new policy that no longer features $25 co-pays went into effect. This month, with my shoulder hurting so bad that I can no longer sleep through the night, I went to an orthopedist, who ordered an MRI. I haven’t gotten the bill for the visit with him yet, but he warned  that the MRI would cost as much as $1,000 if I went to a nearby hospital in Salem, Va. He had his assistant call around and get me an appointment for one at an independent imaging center. The cost was about half that of the hospital’s fee — and I had to pay the full amount.

I apologized for being cost-conscious and said I wasn’t used to it. No problem, the doctor said. He’d just moved to our area in Virginia from another state, and he was having to pay $1,400 a month for COBRA before his family’s new insurance kicked in.

I miss CrossFit, as I’ve already put back on most of the pounds I dropped. But mostly I miss my old insurance — the one where I didn’t have to wait till the pain was excruciating before I went to the doc. In the long run, I wonder if an earlier/cheaper visit would have been more cost-efficient after all?

Should I need rotator cuff surgery — I’ll find out tomorrow — at least I’m now well on my way to having my $1,000 deductible paid.