I do not have health insurance currently. I could obtain health insurance, but that’s not my question.
How often is it appropriate to go to a doctor or general health person (in the US), if I think I’m mostly okay, and how much should I pay? How do I control how much I pay rather than setting up an appointment without mentioning price and allowing them to charge me? How do I find someone based on their skill/price rather than choosing randomly or following a recommendation from a friend?
Visit the dentist regularly, like once or twice a year for a checkup, or whenever a reason pops up. Problems with teeth should be taken care of ASAP, otherwise they grow big.
The normal doctor needs no regular visits. (For females the gynecologist might be useful regularly, for males there is no equivalent yet.) You should take care of vaccinations. Some like the flu are done annually, others in much rarer sequences like every 10 years. If special once are recommended in your region your doctor or some kind of health information center will know.
If you have special reasons to do an occasional checkup you probably know about that already. Like: I am a vegetarian and have my blood levels checked every few years. If you are generally healthy no visits are necessary.
For people above a certain age some general prescreenings are recommended. I dont have the numbers here, and they differ by country, but that generally only starts at 35 or more.
I don’t bother my doctors with minor illnesses that go away on their own, like the cold. But sometimes do go there with seemingly minor stuff that does not go away on it’s own.
As a preparatory measure you could find out where your next general doctor, and the next emergency room is and how to get there.
It probably pays to take care of oneself. After all we only have one body to run with.
No information on payment rates since I live in another place.
There are a couple of ways you can ballpark how much you should be paying. You can look up what Medicare pays here. To use that you’ll need to know the appropriate CPT code(s), which is not easy. If you’re a new patient just going for a check up, you probably want 9920[1-5]; for an established patient, you want 9921[1-5]. The range from 1 to 5 varies by how “complex” the medical decision making is and how comprehensive the examination is.
You can also go to a site like healthcarebluebook.com to look up the prices. I think their goal is to report what a private insurance company might pay, so the numbers are somewhat higher. It also gives some tips on how to negotiate the payment if you don’t have insurance.
When calling for prices, tell them that you have no insurance and offer to pay on the day of service (assuming that you can), then ask what kind of discount they can give you. Sometimes you won’t even have to ask.
If you are under 50, I agree with the other comments that you don’t really need to see a doctor regularly. I would want a baseline examination, though, to see if you have any tendencies toward bad cholesterol or blood sugar, so you can maintain a diet that will keep you healthy and able to continue skipping the doctor visits. I agree with MartinB that you should see the dentist at least once a year for a checkup and cleaning.
If you are approaching or over 50, you should really get a prostate exam every year or so. Prostate cancer is very common, relatively slow to progress, and very treatable if caught early on. Apparently (I just learned this in checking the web that I’m not giving you bad info) it is possible to do self-examinations, but combined with all the other things (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc) that have increasing probability with age, you should probably be seeing a doctor once a year anyway.
Whatever doctor you call, you can ask them what their fee is before making an appointment. You can also ask what their fees are for specific tests and procedures. Calling several doctors and asking the same questions (i.e. shopping around) is the only way I know of to find cheap doctors. As for skill, recommendations are the way to go. You may be able to find recommendations/reviews online.
If you are male and under 30 you should see a doctor every so often to get blood work done—say every 3-5 years. This is to check your blood sugar (diabetes) and establish a cholesterol baseline. If you’re a drinker also start tracking your liver enzymes.
From 30 to 40 every other year is OK, unless you want to watch something more closely. If you’re heavily involved in shooting sports and/or reloading, or some other sport with exposure to heavy metals or toxic chemicals discuss this with your physician and get the appopriate tests.
After 40 you’re really better off getting blood work done annually.
As you hit your mid-40s getting your A1C baselined and then checked every so often is a good idea.
But yes, if you’re paying out of pocket call around and see who will give you the best deal.
Also you really SHOULD consider a class of insurance (if you can find it anymore, idiot politicians have priced it out of some markets) called “catastrophic health care insurance”. This doesn’t cover you if you want an HIV test, or blood work, it doesn’t cover your breast enlargements or vasectomy, but if an uninsured drunk car thief knocks you off your bicycle it WILL cover the bills he won’t pay.
I don’t know about negotiating out of pocket price, but you should definitely get a significant discount from retail (just like the insurers do).
I would never see a doctor unless you had a reason to, even if it were free. This is based on a general belief that doctors have a high false-positive rate in recommending dangerous procedures (that are only warranted in case of true positives).
I do not have health insurance currently. I could obtain health insurance, but that’s not my question.
How often is it appropriate to go to a doctor or general health person (in the US), if I think I’m mostly okay, and how much should I pay? How do I control how much I pay rather than setting up an appointment without mentioning price and allowing them to charge me? How do I find someone based on their skill/price rather than choosing randomly or following a recommendation from a friend?
Off the top of my head:
Visit the dentist regularly, like once or twice a year for a checkup, or whenever a reason pops up. Problems with teeth should be taken care of ASAP, otherwise they grow big.
The normal doctor needs no regular visits. (For females the gynecologist might be useful regularly, for males there is no equivalent yet.) You should take care of vaccinations. Some like the flu are done annually, others in much rarer sequences like every 10 years. If special once are recommended in your region your doctor or some kind of health information center will know. If you have special reasons to do an occasional checkup you probably know about that already. Like: I am a vegetarian and have my blood levels checked every few years. If you are generally healthy no visits are necessary. For people above a certain age some general prescreenings are recommended. I dont have the numbers here, and they differ by country, but that generally only starts at 35 or more.
I don’t bother my doctors with minor illnesses that go away on their own, like the cold. But sometimes do go there with seemingly minor stuff that does not go away on it’s own.
As a preparatory measure you could find out where your next general doctor, and the next emergency room is and how to get there.
It probably pays to take care of oneself. After all we only have one body to run with.
No information on payment rates since I live in another place.
There are a couple of ways you can ballpark how much you should be paying. You can look up what Medicare pays here. To use that you’ll need to know the appropriate CPT code(s), which is not easy. If you’re a new patient just going for a check up, you probably want 9920[1-5]; for an established patient, you want 9921[1-5]. The range from 1 to 5 varies by how “complex” the medical decision making is and how comprehensive the examination is.
You can also go to a site like healthcarebluebook.com to look up the prices. I think their goal is to report what a private insurance company might pay, so the numbers are somewhat higher. It also gives some tips on how to negotiate the payment if you don’t have insurance.
When calling for prices, tell them that you have no insurance and offer to pay on the day of service (assuming that you can), then ask what kind of discount they can give you. Sometimes you won’t even have to ask.
If you are under 50, I agree with the other comments that you don’t really need to see a doctor regularly. I would want a baseline examination, though, to see if you have any tendencies toward bad cholesterol or blood sugar, so you can maintain a diet that will keep you healthy and able to continue skipping the doctor visits. I agree with MartinB that you should see the dentist at least once a year for a checkup and cleaning.
If you are approaching or over 50, you should really get a prostate exam every year or so. Prostate cancer is very common, relatively slow to progress, and very treatable if caught early on. Apparently (I just learned this in checking the web that I’m not giving you bad info) it is possible to do self-examinations, but combined with all the other things (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc) that have increasing probability with age, you should probably be seeing a doctor once a year anyway.
Whatever doctor you call, you can ask them what their fee is before making an appointment. You can also ask what their fees are for specific tests and procedures. Calling several doctors and asking the same questions (i.e. shopping around) is the only way I know of to find cheap doctors. As for skill, recommendations are the way to go. You may be able to find recommendations/reviews online.
If you are male and under 30 you should see a doctor every so often to get blood work done—say every 3-5 years. This is to check your blood sugar (diabetes) and establish a cholesterol baseline. If you’re a drinker also start tracking your liver enzymes.
From 30 to 40 every other year is OK, unless you want to watch something more closely. If you’re heavily involved in shooting sports and/or reloading, or some other sport with exposure to heavy metals or toxic chemicals discuss this with your physician and get the appopriate tests.
After 40 you’re really better off getting blood work done annually.
As you hit your mid-40s getting your A1C baselined and then checked every so often is a good idea.
But yes, if you’re paying out of pocket call around and see who will give you the best deal.
Also you really SHOULD consider a class of insurance (if you can find it anymore, idiot politicians have priced it out of some markets) called “catastrophic health care insurance”. This doesn’t cover you if you want an HIV test, or blood work, it doesn’t cover your breast enlargements or vasectomy, but if an uninsured drunk car thief knocks you off your bicycle it WILL cover the bills he won’t pay.
Pro tip: if you donate blood, they check it for free.
I don’t know about negotiating out of pocket price, but you should definitely get a significant discount from retail (just like the insurers do).
I would never see a doctor unless you had a reason to, even if it were free. This is based on a general belief that doctors have a high false-positive rate in recommending dangerous procedures (that are only warranted in case of true positives).