By SAVAS ABADSIDIS
It was my birthday and I decided to see my shrink. I hadn’t seen him in a while and I realized it was probably a good time to restart therapy and maybe address a few things that had been rattling around in my head.
After arriving at his downtown Manhattan office, Carol the receptionist called me into one of the examination rooms to tell me I had an outstanding balance from my previous visit for $340.00. It had been denied by my insurance — she quietly — as not to embarrass me in front of the other patients informed me that the doctor was not going to be able to see me or write me my anti-depressant and benzodiazepines prescriptions unless the bill was taken care of…. I was in complete shock and felt a surge of anger for a moment.
Firstly because I had no idea that I had a bill due, secondly wondering why my insurance had not paid the bill, and thirdly because I couldn’t believe that this doctor who I had been seeing on and off for over 10 years was denying to see me over one bill.
She quickly apologized and explained that so many people had been coming in with canceled insurance and not making payments over the last year that they could not afford to see patients with outstanding bills anymore. After looking at the insurance information, I realized that it was outdated and that I had not provided my new information. I explained this to Carol, but didn’t have the new card on me. She left the examination room to talk to the doctor and returned saying that he would agree to see me if I paid half the bill on the spot. Again I was in shock; there was something dirty about this explicit exchange of money in return for services that I had never experienced at the doctor before. I had already over the past few years been turned off at the idea of having to hand over your co-pay upfront before your visit. Certainly this exchange of money for services not yet rendered was a far cry from the Hippocratic oath. I happened to have $100 on me and she ran back to ask the doctor again and he finally agreed to see me. Needless to say, it was not a very productive session and if I hadn’t been out of my meds I probably would have walked out.