A Side Note on Healthcare and Parental Rationalizations

Just months before Sabrina was born, Andres took a new job and we had to go without health insurance for 3 months. We could have continued coverage with Cobra but it was SO expensive. We gambled that whatever we might have to pay for straight out of pocket would be less than the cost of the insurance. Andres and the  girls could have had short term insurance, but not me. Maybe everyone else in the world already knew and understood that being pregnant meant having a "pre-existing condition". Seriously! I suddenly felt a great deal of empathy for everyone living and trying to manage any kind of disease or medical condition.

Anyway, at one point Emma hurt her arm and was crying and crying and holding her arm refusing to use it. We recognized the symptoms from our earlier visit to Urgent Care for nursemaid elbow (a stretched elbow ligament the allowed the radius to slip out of position pinching a nerve and general discomfort as well as inability to use properly (or frankly the desire). It was bath time. On a Sunday. I put an ice pack on her elbow and tried to convince her and myself that she could survive until the following morning so that we could go to her pediatrician and only have to pay the office visit cost. But of course Emma had other ideas about the urgency of the situation. I felt HORRIBLE trying to balance the obvious medical need of my child and the financial outlay of Urgent Care. I called to find out about discounts for the uninsured. None. Well how much would our visit cost, I wanted to know. I was informed that it would be $200 to walk through the door (payable to the clinic itself) and that the doctor's and pharmaceutical and radiological bills would all be separate and there was no way to know in advance what the cost would be. In short, we sucked it up, cursed, and went to Urgent Care.

Now fast forward. Emma spent a month on a low dose antibiotics to try and clear the fluid from her ears. Her prescription was for a let's say a  medium sized bottle of medicine and one refill. Apparently the medicine only comes in small or large bottles, so we ended up with a large one which lasted a long time. When we went for the refill we got 2 small bottles. One was mixed for immediate use while the other was paid for but stayed sealed. When it was needed we were to take the bottle back to Walgreens to have mixed. In the end the period of treatment ended before the medicine. I now have a sealed bottle of unmixed amoxycilin at my house.

When I saw the prescription for Sabrina's ear infection, I recognized that it was  the same potency as what I had at home. I was already calculating that I would just NOT fill Sabrina's prescription and save some dollars. But then I started doubting my rationalization. What if something was different? What if I made a mistake that could harm my no-longer but awfully close to being a baby, baby? So in the end I filled the prescription at a cost of $5. I don't regret the decision. If the prescription had been $35, I may have had buyer's remorse.

All in all I felt for a short time in a very small way what the un- and under insured parents struggle with all the time. Kids ALWAYS need to be seen for something! I hope that our government and country can find a way to take better care of it's citizens.