TomNuzum.com
TomNuzum.com

Deductibles And Perverse Incentives

My daughter hurt her knee in the soccer game last night. After blowing through our flexible spending account paying for a surgery we paid off our deductible and are working towards our out-of-pocket maximum.

Whenever patients reach this point in their insurance plan, their incentives flip? Can I come three times a week? How many visit do I have remaining in my plan?

If once a week was appropriate before hitting that point, once a week is still appropriate.

Did I hesitate to have an orthopedist look at her knee? Nope. She needs to have her knee examined. Will I hesitate to have my daughter’s knee MRI’d? Not for a second. Making certain her meniscus and ACL are intact is important information to have. The cost is not a huge issue now.

These are the rules to the game they laid out. I am just playing their game.