The one I've been to has doctors, LNP's, and PA's and they're often floating from other facilities. This was explained to me when I asked why a bill was so high. By a roll of the dice, my bruised foot was looked at by some fancy specialist, and they get billed at a higher rate even if they're not looking at something within their specialty. I thought it was pretty absurd, it's like if we set your Internet bill for the month based on who answered the phone when called in. Oh Chuck answered? His time is worth $500/hour, so your bill is $500 now.
That would have been around 2006 or so, before I became a pudgy desk jockey with health insurance. They billed separately for the doctor who initially looked at it, the x-ray technician, and the doc who read the x-ray. I don't remember every line item, but I recall it added up to around $800, and I specifically remember being annoyed about the fact that they gave me Tylenol and billed me for each pill at $20/each or something like that. And by the way, I was there because I was concerned I might have broken something in my foot, but it turned out there was nothing wrong other than a deep bruise. So that was $800 Tylenol. I hate to think what that situation would cost today. I've had to bring my kids to those places since then, but now I have insurance and I don't even see the bills. Nobody would tolerate this crap if they had to look at the bills every time. -Adam ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]> on behalf of Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 1:00 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT tough love I’m amazed the number of these standalone private immediate care places popping up. In buildings where you’d expect something like a JiffyLube or Dunkin or Payday Loans or We Buy Gold. Not talking about the ones associated with a large healthcare entity. Never seem to be a lot of people there, how do they make money, how do they recruit doctors? Are these some sort of scam? Do they even have doctors, or are they staffed by nurse practitioners or physicians assistants? Is it some kind of telemedicine thing? AI and robots? From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Bill Prince Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 11:41 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT tough love Sounds like it's time for a different health plan. The last place I worked where they had HR, I think they just called it PTO, unless something serious comes up. You got what you got, and it eliminates the hyper-examinations. When we ran our own company, we worked no matter how we felt, and if you were dying, you went to work anyway. -- bp part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com On Wed, Dec 3, 2025 at 4:54 AM Mike Hammett <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: *nods* My regular doctor is usually weeks out for scheduling. Sometimes he can squeeze us in the same day, but that's usually just double-booking an appointment slot and hoping no one complains. One of my cardiologists is over 18 months out. I think my last appointment was 20 months. -- Mike Hammett ----- Original Message ----- From: "Seth Mattinen via AF" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Cc: "Seth Mattinen" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Tuesday, December 2, 2025 12:44:49 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT tough love On 12/2/25 09:37, Ken Hohhof wrote: > If you think of it in terms of your policies and put “this generation” > and “woke” out of your mind, it will probably save you some > aggravation. Hard to do when you’re the owner, but just following the > rules (even if you’re the rulemaker) can avoid getting worked up over > something and letting someone spoil your day. > > I only have one employee other than myself, and he is a relative, so > that comes with its own set of issues. Others are 1099 and are low > maintenance. > > My impression is that a lot of companies these days are lumping PTO and > sick days together into a pool, my guess is to avoid exactly these > issues. No doctors notes or tell me your temperature or sending private > detectives to take photos. Ever since the pandemic there are also > probably rules about coming to work sick to avoid using up your “pool” > days, if you’re clearly sick and likely infectious, you work from home > or take a sick day. > > If someone uses up their pool, then it becomes unpaid leave or longterm > disability. > Doctors notes cost money, if they can even get me in that quickly. My neurologist is a year out for appointments. So sure, I'll get right on that note when my MS acts up: in a year. If I have to pay urgent care $200 to get a note that's worth $25/hr for an 8 hour day. If it costs more than I'm getting paid for a note then I'll take the risk of getting fired since I'm losing money either way, at least I can argue the math to unemployment and get a hearing. Can employers requiring doctor notes be a worker's comp claim? I sure would try before spending my money. Besides, if you don't trust someone enough that you actually need notes like they're a child then why are they still working for you anyway? -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
-- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
