Member-only story
Who Knew Being in Charge of Your Own Medical Records was So Expensive?
Paper records are pricey!
As many of you know, I recently moved to Maryland from Kentucky.
I had no intention of living in Kentucky for longer than two years (it sucked), so I kept seeing my doctors and dentist back home in Connecticut.
It was a pain to go home for visits, but less of a pain than switching all my doctors for such a short period of time. I ended up living in KY for a year and two weeks.
Maryland is great; my boyfriend and I love it here. We had a deal where I would come to Kentucky until he was able to leave. We would then relocate somewhere on the east coast and stay there for at least three years.
I wanted to be closer to family while he wanted to show job stability. But we love Maryland a lot and may end up staying here for quite a while, maybe even longer than originally discussed. We’ll see.
This brings us to today, the medical records endeavor
I don’t make a lot of money writing. (Thanks for cutting base pay, NewsBreak!) Because of this, I get a huge discount on Maryland health insurance, so I made the switch as soon as I could.
I’m also a very lucky only child whose parents are willing and able to help cover the cost. The value of this cannot be understated. Yes, I can afford it, but now I will be able to afford more. Thanks, Mom & Dad!
Onto the records. I’ve been looking at local doctors and dentists to fax my records to, but I’d also like a physical copy of my records. It would be nice to have the records in my hands if something happened and I wasn’t able to depend on my old doctors to give me my records.
It’s apparently free to get your records faxed to another provider, according to four of my doctors, but can cost $0.05 — $0.55cents per page to get physical copies for yourself, even if you go to pick them up in person.
Isn’t that crazy?
It costs you money to get your own information, but your doctor is willing to give YOUR information away for FREE to another doctor.
