Something for nothing? That doesn't happen very often

Over the last couple of months I (Rob) have been having some medical tests done to try to figure out where some pain in my ankles has been coming from. I think we've got an answer, but that is a post for a different time. This story involves paying for the tests.

In early April I had a bunch of X-rays and and an MRI done at a particular diagnostics center that my doctor referred me to. The 5000 X-rays were kind of fun, but the MRI was downright miserable! Try laying flat on your back and don't move a muscle for 2 straight hours. Yuck... Anyway, back to the story. Over the last couple of weeks I started getting the benefit statements from my insurance company detailing the costs of recent doctors visits and the diagnostics work. To my surprise it looked as if the diagnostics center was "out of network" for my insurance plan. Ahh! Total reported patient responsibility was over $3200. Wow... Well, after a week or so of just ignoring the mail so I didn't have to think about it I called the insurance company and they verified that, yes, that center was not contracted to them and they sure were "out of network." The outlook was getting pretty bleak at this point. It's kind of hard to budget for $3k of medical bills just out of the blue! So in a final attempt to figure out just what was going on I called the diag center. The lady I talked to seemed pleasant enough as I began to explain what my issue was and as I got to the part about them being out of network and having to owe them $3k she starts to laugh and asks me if I'm looking at the big numbers on my statements. I say, "yes I am, what's so funny?" She goes on to explain that they won't be billing me for that! Wow! (Rob droops down in his chair as the 3k lb weight falls off his shoulders!) Ok, but why?!?! She tells me that Houston right now is what they call a saturated market. That means that it's very difficult for doctors and other medical facilities to get contracted with insurance agencies, and so they can keep their patients and doctor relationships, they only charge the "in network" fee, which means I don't pay anything. Holy cow, that's amazing. The rest of the evening felt pretty good after that phone call. I made sure to say some thank you prayers after I hung up!

Lesson learned: Always check with your insurance agency and the doctor's office BEFORE you go to make sure you know what you have to pay for. :)