Uninsured

I've been pretty ill for about 8 days now, and my friend T took me to urgent care today. I was reluctant to go since I still have Kaiser insurance with my parents, and they don't reimburse for anything other than emergency services. The nearest Kaiser is in Cleveland, Ohio--550 miles away. I don't normally see doctors anyway. They say that medical personnel make the worst patients. They're right.


But I've been in bed all week and quickly deteriorating even with Robitussin, Dimetapp, Nyquil, Dayquil, Chloraseptic, and a Costco impulse buy of 3 lbs of Ricola cough drops. So when T called and I sounded like a man-frog-snot-machine, he came over and bundled me up and sped me to the deserted building that is Mercy Urgent Care.


I told the lady at the front desk that I didn't have insurance, and asked how much it would cost. She said, "Oh, I couldn't tell you." T asked, "Ballpark?" and she said, "Depends on what tests they do." I asked, "What's the minimum?" And she said "$150." T asked if I wanted to go through with it. I shrugged and said that I was willing to do anything at this point.


Yeesh. It ended up being $136 to see the doctor for a 4-minute consult, and $19 for generic drugs.


It was my first time venturing outside of the megaplex that is Kaiser, and I must say, it's fairly convenient. I think I'll still try to stay on my parents' plan for another year, but man. It is scary to be sick and uninsured.


On a side note, when the guy at the pharmacy asked me my name for pick up, he kept asking if my name was Connie and if I had a Berkeley address. I said yes, without realizing that I never gave them that name or address. It was kinda fishy, but I still felt like a bus had hit me at this point and didn't correct them. Turns out they put in my prescription through the other Connie Chen with same birth date. What are the odds.


Oh yeah. I didn't tell you. I have bronchitis.