Health by Robert MacMillan MD Last year, while travelling on theWinter Information Meetings tour with the Canadian Snowbird Association, my wife was adversely affected by the dry Arizona air which caused her reactive airway problems to flare up. With her symptoms of increasing coughing and some wheezing, it was necessary for us (for the first time) to access medical attention while away from home. I knew that taking her to an emergency room was not necessary and that it would entail unnecessary costs and time. Because it was a Sunday, I knew that most physicians’ offices would be closed and my remaining and best choice was to access a local walk-in clinic. After notifying and consulting with our medical personnel at Medipac Assist, we inquired as to the whereabouts of a reputable walk-in clinic and were directed to one nearby. A physician’s assistant took a very thorough history, including the names of present and previous medications used for her condition. We were glad to be able to immediately provide the practitioners with all of the written information needed – which was recorded on our Personal Health Records which we always carry when travelling. I had learned that during the stress of an acute illness or injury, it is not uncommon to forget certain past illnesses, treatments, immunizations and prescription drug names. Following the history, a physician reviewed the information, examined my wife and determined that she would benefit from immediate inhalation of a drug to open up her airway and a prescription for a similar drug in the form of an inhaler. She experienced almost immediate relief and continued to improve over the following three days. I notified the assistance personnel of the outcome of her medical attention. There were three other things that I took into consideration. Although I had a deductible on my insurance, I was aware that I should notify my insurer even if I thought that the visit and drugs might cost less than the deductible amount. The reasons were that the care might have been more extensive than I anticipated, the insurer might have suggested an alternative site for care, and because I would be submitting the claim tomy insurer even if the deductible amount had not been met. In that way, they would be able to recover for us the amount that her provincial health insurance would reimburse her for the physician services. The charges by the physician’s office were close to $200 but, recognizing that this was within my deductible amount, I asked if they would accept the Medicare rate paid to U.S. doctors for senior U.S. citizens and was able to get a significant reduction. It is not uncommon for Canadian snowbirds to be successful in this type of individual negotiation. After all, insurance companies do the same thing, often as pre-arranged payment arrangements. away from home Medical Care 28 | www.snowbirds.org
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