Health Insurance: 5 Tips for Emergency Room Visits
If you go to an ER such as Frontline ER, you will probably go there because you have a severe medical issue. When you get there, you will need to answer questions regarding your medical history and health insurance.
In some cases, you might need to make essential decisions about tests and procedures that staff at Frontline ER will ask you for permission to conduct. Being prepared could help you avoid leaving an ER with enormous medical bills that your insurer might not cover. Here are some essential tips about health insurance when you visit an ER such as Frontline ER:
Do Not Always Assume the ER Is the Best Place for You
While we at Frontline ER would like you to get to the ER for a real emergency as soon as you can, it might always be the right place. If you do not have a significant crisis, you might have to wait for long hours as those that have considerable dilemmas are served.
Today, you could even visit an urgent care center for more efficient treatment for things such as broken bones, burns, cuts that require a few stitches and other such injuries. In short, the ER should only be for conditions where there is an immediate threat to life.
These conditions include major head injuries, severe pain, such as pain that is indicative of a stroke or heart attack and critical injuries that lead to profuse bleeding. Most urgent care centers will accept a wide array of insurance plans. Ask ahead if they will take your insurance before you go there.
Ensure You Can Answer Questions about Your Health
When you go to the ER, the doctor there will need to get information from about your past medical history. Whether it is you or your child, ensure that you have as much information with you about your medical history as you can gather.
This information should include:
A list of any medication or supplements that you are taking, you have recently completed or been recently prescribed.
Documentation of any allergies to any medications
A list of all your previous stays in hospital and the reason for the visits
Information about any surgeries you have had in the past
A list of chronic or past illnesses you or the child has
A complete history of any health problems that run in your family
Any vaccines that you have received in your life
Any specialists and their names that you might have visited in the recent past
With modern technology, ensure that you have a medical records app where you store all the details. If you prefer, you can write this information down and keep it in a place where you can access with ease on demand. That way, you will not need to remember everything when you get hurt or fall ill.
Understand Your Rights at the ER
Under the rules of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies must cover you for any care you get at the ER if your case was a medical emergency. You do not need to get approval from the insurer to visit Frontline ER if you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency. Besides that, it should not matter whether the ER you visit is inside or outside your insurance network.
However, ensure that you only go there for an emergency medical condition. It means that in your judgment was a matter of life and death. If you can, try to call your doctor to determine if what you are experiencing is a major medical emergency.
Ask If You’re Doctor Can Do the Test Later
You may need various tests performed when you visit the ER to understand what exactly is ailing you. Such is true when you have a medical emergency such as collapsing. However, the tests done at the ER could cost more compared to somewhere else.
If you can, ask the ER doctor if there is any danger in doing the tests later. If he or she decides the tests will not affect the treatment, you can go to your doctor. They will cost much less than at the ER and could help to reduce your co-pay.
Examine Your ER Bill Carefully
Most of the care you get at the ER for emergencies should be charged the in-network rate. However, you might get treatment from an out of network medical experts such as a technician or some doctor while at the ER.
These medical care providers could bill you directly for what they charge and what your plan covers. Most of the plans include the ER fee when treated for an emergency. However, you might need to contact the insurer directly to have corrections made. Thus, you should always examine the medical bills to avoid issues such as being overbilled or double-billed.
