r/HealthInsurance • u/arwenthenoble • 14d ago

Claims/Providers Full office visit co-pay charged for MyChart message

I had a question about a temporary medication I was taking and sent a message via MyChart. The message was only regarding the medication (no other health questions were asked).

I received my EOB and was charged a full $50 co-pay like when I go in person for a visit or have a full video visit. When I looked online, I see in general messaging costs listed as much lower than a visit. Does this mean my insurance doesn’t differentiate a full visit from a brief question in a message? If I had known, I would’ve scheduled an online telehealth visit instead.

I’ve had a lot of medical costs this year and another random $50 stings. I will avoid using MyChart going forward.

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u/That-League6974 13d ago

Perhaps. But on the other hand, we are regularly billed $500-900 for 15-20 minute in-person or virtual appointments. Seems like a couple minutes for an email follow up is fair given these incredibly high charges. My last one was a 4 minute call from a urologist, which included the waiting time to be transferred to him, to share one simple test result. (a result I had already read online) $950 was billed.

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u/nyc2pit 13d ago

Of that "$500-900" bill how much does your crappy insurance pay?

How much of that do you think the doctor gets?

I being patients back to the office for followups. No results over the phone.

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u/ScarInternational161 13d ago

The doctors are ultimately going to be the catalyst to a major over haul of our insurance, billing, payment systems. I'm almost certain they would actually get paid more in a single payer system.

The insurance companies are not in the business of taking care of sick people OR paying doctors. They are the business to make lots of money. Full stop.

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u/That-League6974 13d ago

It was an out of network doctor so my insurance didn’t cover it as I had not met my out of network deductible. I paid the bill. I don’t care how much the doctor got — they aren’t commissioned anyhow and are typically salaried. My point is that a four minute call for that much money is crazy. It feels like that rate should cover a 1-2 minute follow up. No one wants to come back to a doctors office for a pointless follow up.

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u/nyc2pit 13d ago

Oh even better. So you went to a doctor who EXPRESSLY doesn't have a contract with your insurance. And now you want to cry about the bill? In reality you should be paying the full amount.

You're wrong, many of us are productivity, not salaried and it absolutely makes a differnece. So clearly you don't know what you're talking about.

Hint: no one gives a shit what you "think" my time should be worth. GTFO with that.

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u/That-League6974 13d ago

I had a kidney stone on vacation 1000 away from home, so there wasn’t time to find in-network providers. And I’m hardly crying about the bill. Luckily I can easily afford it. But I think the rates are very high for a 4 minute call to read me a test result I had already read online. I didn’t ask for the appointment. At $950 for 4 minutes, it’s almost $15K per hour.

You seem awfully aggressive and angry. Are you ok?

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u/almanacsdonut 13d ago

What is a telehealth visit going to do for a kidney stone? No one believes someone charged you that btw.

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u/That-League6974 13d ago

I saw a urologist while at the hospital. Then he scheduled a virtual follow up appt a couple weeks later and read me the stone lab report. The virtual appt was scheduled with a few days notice and felt very casual - as I recall it wasn’t even a specific time but more like “he will call you in the afternoon on xxx date”. I had already read the lab report so the appt was totally unnecessary. Had I know the doctor had no useful information and would charge $950 I probably would have declined it.

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u/nyc2pit 13d ago

Why didn't you just not take the call? I mean if you already know enough to treat yorsle, just do that!

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u/That-League6974 13d ago

Why are you so hostile?

Obviously I didn’t know he was only going to share the lab report and I didn’t know there would be a charge. I got a message that the dr wanted a follow up call and to confirm availability. I thought perhaps there was something important to share.

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u/voodoobunny999 13d ago

Because he’s clearly an asshole.

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u/nyc2pit 13d ago

That's fine. I think it's a lot when a plumber charges me $500 for a house call.

My thoughts matter little to him, as your thoughts matter little to the OON doc you saw.

Move along here and pay the bill that you "easily can" and move in with your life.

It's clear you have NO IDEA how medical billing works. You're paying top notch full fare because you're out of network. Thems the breaks.

If your insurance thought this was an emergency they would waive the OON fees. Clearly they don't. Or maybe you should talk to THEM.

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u/That-League6974 13d ago

This happened in August 2020. The bill was paid long ago. My point is that a 4 minute call without any new information and initiated by the doctor should not be charged $950.

My insurance did treat the initial ER visit as an emergency and covered all the charges.