how sick is sick enough?

[gusl]

Suppose you feel quite sick outside of doctors' office hours (let's say 6pm - 6am). You figure it's probably not life-threatening. Still, you'd like to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Do you have any options other than the Emergency Room? How much do they charge, compared to regular treatment? Does it hurt you to charge your insurance for an emergency, when your case is not a true emergency?

Comments

[altamira16.livejournal.com]

The Emergency Room is your most likely bet. Some insurance penalizes you for using an Emergency Room for things that are not real emergencies by not paying a lot if you are not admitted to the hospital after the Emergency Room visit.

Sometimes you can call your doctor though and have him/her get back to you if it is something important. It depends on the doctor though.

[marknau.livejournal.com]

There is sometimes a middle ground known as "Urgent Care" for things that you'd like checked out right away, but aren't an immediate danger.

[zarex.livejournal.com]

Your insurance is through your university, isn't it? Just go to their infirmary, should be open 24 hrs, and they'll refer you elsewhere if necessary. No cost, no ding.

[ekorber.livejournal.com]

CMU's health services is only open business hours M-F and a few hours on Saturday, and AFAIK isn't available to anyone but students.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

Still worth a try. If nothing else, maybe they can help me find a doctor who will see me the same day.

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

How much do they charge, compared to regular treatment?

Probably 2x to 5x. But it's hard to tell because the health system is not exactly capitalistic in this country -- you won't know the price for another 2-6 months.

[flamingnerd.livejournal.com]

Your doctor's office DOES have an after hours physician on call. look it up on their website or call the # you have and there may be a message saying how to reach the on call doc's pager.

don't go to the ER. you will wait forever and just get more sick :P

[flamingnerd.livejournal.com]

-because they can phone a prescription into your pharmacy of choice if that's what needs to be done based on the symptoms you report. don't be afraid to ask for it.

[jbouwens.livejournal.com]

You figure it's probably not life-threatening.

There are two kinds of life-threatening ailments:

1) Things that require immediate attention or you'll die
2) Things that kill you over the course of several days/weeks if left untreated.

If you're suffering from 1), you'd know and you wouldn't be debating it on LJ. If you're suffering from 2), waiting a day won't hurt.

[xuande.livejournal.com]

It still might hurt in the excruciating physical pain way.