General medical examination in NYC: where do I start?
February 14, 2010 6:02 AM Subscribe
Expat in the US. I want to get some sort of comprehensive, general physical medical examination. My insurance only covers emergencies, so I know I'll have to pay, but where do I even begin?
I'm very fortunate to have good health insurance through my company when it comes to being hit by a bus or contracting skin-eating diseases, etc. But what I want now (mid-30s male, in good health) is a good overall medical exam, which I've never really had. I have absolutely no idea where to start finding a good doctor, or a sense of the cost. (Web searching turns up everything from free blood pressure checks at pharmacies to $8,000 two-day "executive physicals".) I'm not poor, and happy to pay for what I need, but not so rich that I can afford to waste money on pointless procedures. I'm in New York. Can anyone tell me my next step? Thanks.
I'm very fortunate to have good health insurance through my company when it comes to being hit by a bus or contracting skin-eating diseases, etc. But what I want now (mid-30s male, in good health) is a good overall medical exam, which I've never really had. I have absolutely no idea where to start finding a good doctor, or a sense of the cost. (Web searching turns up everything from free blood pressure checks at pharmacies to $8,000 two-day "executive physicals".) I'm not poor, and happy to pay for what I need, but not so rich that I can afford to waste money on pointless procedures. I'm in New York. Can anyone tell me my next step? Thanks.
Just call a local internist and ask what the price is for a physical sans insurance. I doubt it'd be more than a few hundred (i.e. $200-400), even in New York. And that's not even looking at alternative options as suggested above.
In short, physicals aren't free, or even cheap, but they're nowhere near the cost of any kind of actual procedure.
posted by valkyryn at 7:39 AM on February 14, 2010
In short, physicals aren't free, or even cheap, but they're nowhere near the cost of any kind of actual procedure.
posted by valkyryn at 7:39 AM on February 14, 2010
Even the most rudimentary insurance plan usually comes with a cheap yearly physical. Check your policy over.
posted by sanka at 8:51 AM on February 14, 2010
posted by sanka at 8:51 AM on February 14, 2010
In Philadelphia anyway, you can go to a walk-in clinic and get a checkup for about $40 (at least , that was the price I was quoted when i was trying to find a place to get a physical for work, before I had insurance.) I didn't wind up getting the physical there, but if you check around you should be able to find a place like that.
posted by bearette at 9:13 AM on February 14, 2010
posted by bearette at 9:13 AM on February 14, 2010
Try calling the medical school's in your area to see if you would be elligible for their student or resident run clinics -- it's usually for indigent patients, but it can't hurt to ask.
posted by skepticallypleased at 9:17 AM on February 14, 2010
posted by skepticallypleased at 9:17 AM on February 14, 2010
Even the most rudimentary insurance plan usually comes with a cheap yearly physical. Check your policy over.
No, not true. Catastrophic health insurance (which sounds like what the OP has) generally does not. Our doesn't. Not even pediatric well-visits. Or vaccinations. This is NOT uncommon. Sure, it'll cover a car accident or a major surgery, but usually bare-bones preventative, and usually not physicals.
I'd suggest getting some physician recommendations from friends and start calling to see how much a physical will run you. You can often request the insurance adjusted price, which could be lower than the cash option - but ask about discounts for cash, too. If your friends don't have any recommendations, my next step would be a walk-in urgent care center.
posted by cooker girl at 11:34 AM on February 14, 2010
No, not true. Catastrophic health insurance (which sounds like what the OP has) generally does not. Our doesn't. Not even pediatric well-visits. Or vaccinations. This is NOT uncommon. Sure, it'll cover a car accident or a major surgery, but usually bare-bones preventative, and usually not physicals.
I'd suggest getting some physician recommendations from friends and start calling to see how much a physical will run you. You can often request the insurance adjusted price, which could be lower than the cash option - but ask about discounts for cash, too. If your friends don't have any recommendations, my next step would be a walk-in urgent care center.
posted by cooker girl at 11:34 AM on February 14, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks very much for these useful answers so far.
To clarify, I have expat insurance from the UK, so all bets are off in terms of what's included, as compared to a US health insurance policy: it really is just for emergencies.
I'm definitely willing to pay $200-$400 if that's what it takes to get a really good physical, but I'd rather not throw that much money at a doctor on the basis of no recommendation at all, I guess. But these are all great starting-points. Any others welcome.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 11:34 AM on February 14, 2010
To clarify, I have expat insurance from the UK, so all bets are off in terms of what's included, as compared to a US health insurance policy: it really is just for emergencies.
I'm definitely willing to pay $200-$400 if that's what it takes to get a really good physical, but I'd rather not throw that much money at a doctor on the basis of no recommendation at all, I guess. But these are all great starting-points. Any others welcome.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 11:34 AM on February 14, 2010
Response by poster: Ah. Yes. Recommendations from friends — rather obvious, and yet it hadn't occurred to me.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 11:37 AM on February 14, 2010
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 11:37 AM on February 14, 2010
One thing to keep in mind—the doctor may charge you $200 for the visit but there will be lab fees (when they send out your blood etc.) that you will probably be billed directly for after the fact. Most doctors don't keep this in mind or know how much they cost, unfortunately.
I would also ask for the doctor to send you a copy of all of your results and file. In my experience most doctors tell you everything is normal but its good for you to have a copy of your baseline (cholesterol etc.) for the future.
posted by Bunglegirl at 1:01 PM on February 14, 2010
I would also ask for the doctor to send you a copy of all of your results and file. In my experience most doctors tell you everything is normal but its good for you to have a copy of your baseline (cholesterol etc.) for the future.
posted by Bunglegirl at 1:01 PM on February 14, 2010
the office visit fee won't be bad, it's the lab fees that will kill you. a simple blood test--out of pocket-- is in the thousands. keep that in mind.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 4:04 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by misanthropicsarah at 4:04 PM on February 14, 2010
misanthropicsarah, not in my experience it isn't. Thousands? Really? A couple of hundred at best.
Imaging studies can run in the low thousands--MRIs in particular--but MRI machines still run around $1 million per tesla, and they're usually a couple of tesla at minimum. That's pretty expensive. By comparison, running blood work takes almost no equipment.
Again, it's not going to be free, or even cheap, but everyone seems to have this impression that every single medical procedure is always astronomically expensive, which just isn't true. Pricey, yes, especially if you have to be hospitalized or receive any kind of long term care, but routine diagnostics aren't as bad as they're frequently made out to be. Just because they're beyond most people's budgets doesn't mean it's impossible to do something like this without insurance for a price you can swing if you plan for it.
posted by valkyryn at 7:11 AM on February 15, 2010
Imaging studies can run in the low thousands--MRIs in particular--but MRI machines still run around $1 million per tesla, and they're usually a couple of tesla at minimum. That's pretty expensive. By comparison, running blood work takes almost no equipment.
Again, it's not going to be free, or even cheap, but everyone seems to have this impression that every single medical procedure is always astronomically expensive, which just isn't true. Pricey, yes, especially if you have to be hospitalized or receive any kind of long term care, but routine diagnostics aren't as bad as they're frequently made out to be. Just because they're beyond most people's budgets doesn't mean it's impossible to do something like this without insurance for a price you can swing if you plan for it.
posted by valkyryn at 7:11 AM on February 15, 2010
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posted by pants at 7:00 AM on February 14, 2010 [1 favorite]