Healthcare Reform = Totally free Preventive Care? Not Precisely

Inside of the new health care law, "preventive care" is meant to be free
of charge with no deductible or co-pay. So I went for a physical last
month – and got billed $730.

You call this free of charge?
I got my "free" physical last month. But several days ago, the bills
began coming in: $600 worth of "laboratory services, " $70 for
"radiology services, " and $60 for "diagnostic services. " Since this
was obviously an error, I called my insurer. What did they say? That
much of what constituted my preventive care wasn't covered by the new law.
Of the seven laboratory services (translation: blood and urine tests)
accomplished on me, only three were in theory insured: the urinalysis,
cholesterol screening, and PSA screening. I use the word "theoretically"
mainly because even those tests weren't free of charge. I was charged
for them because, depending on my insurance company, my doctor's office
did not properly code them when they were transmitted.
I guess chest X-rays mustn't provide enough "strong scientific evidence
of their health benefits" to move muster either, because that radiology
service also wasn't covered, nor was the EKG I was presented with. As my
insurance company pointed out, they don't fall into the category of
routine preventive services as explained by the U. S. Preventive
Services Task Force, the government agency that chooses exactly what
preventive care insurance companies should be paying for. Also not
covered was the cost of drawing blood: Although blood tests noted above
are covered, based on my insurance company, you're on your own when it
comes to extracting the blood you want tested.
Net result? The only cost my insurance company paid for my annual
physical was $80 for the office visit.
It's not as bad as it sounds
While a lot of the expense of my physical wasn't covered, much of it was
radically reduced by virtue of the discount I receive through my
insurance provider. For example, while the lab work totaled $612, after
the discount, it came to only $57. 25. And I can go back to my doctor
and ask them to recode and resubmit the covered tests, which would
reduce the bill further. I also got a significant discount on the chest
X-ray, reducing the price from $70 to $26. 64, and my EKG went from $60
to $20. So the cost of my physical, while not free, was still
negligible. Disappointing, but still money well spent.
I just wish someone had told me that my "free" physical wouldn't
actually be free. Then maybe I could have discussed my options with my
doctor, been prepared to see the bill and most important, I could have
avoided a half-hour on the phone demanding an explanation from various
representatives of my insurer.