Medical Bills

As soon as we found out we were pregnant the medical bills started coming in. And being paranoid about having bad credit, or bills that I cannot pay, I just paid them to get them out of my way. But then they just kept coming. None of them really amounted to that much, I mean, we have medical insurance, but it was just the sheer volume of them that freaked me out! $40 here $10 there. We had bills for lab fees, ultrasounds, my emergency room visit, you name it -- they billed. It didn't take long before I was quite sure we'd met our deductible and then I started to worry that I was paying bills that didn't need to be paid.

Last week, I had a balance of $2.35 at the OBGYN, and they wouldn't see me until I paid it. That's TWO DOLLARS AND THIRTY FIVE CENTS. Seriously? Then the billing department laughed at me when I asked them to send me a bill so I could reconcile it against my paperwork. They said, "Ha. We don't send bills for $2.35." Right. Because it's a rediculously small amount. So to refuse me treatment over $2.35 just seems a little strange, right? I mean, it's not like I haven't already written them hundreds of dollars in bills already. Its not like I don't have medical insurance. And it's not like if I died tomorrow and no one could pay the $2.35 bill the entire practice would sink. Now.... I guess technically I could have gone down to my car, pulled my seat forward and found $2.35 in change that has been hibernating under my car seats for the last 6 months, by why bother? It's $2.35. $2.35 doesn't even get you a coffee at Starbucks or a dozen eggs.

So yesterday I audited the whole pregnancy bill sitaution! It was enormous fun, and I mean it. I had excel spreadsheets and statements stacked all over the place. I was reconciling my world. It was great. It's been settled. But I can't deny the fact that it chaps my growing ass to no end that they refused to see me at the doctor for a $2.35 bill.