Get to Know The Details of Your Insurance Policy:
No two health insurance policies are exactly the same. There can be a considerable difference between what is covered by one insurance policy and what will be covered by another. For example, some policies will pay for blood testing as well as screenings like an EKG and an X-ray at an annual check-up. Others won’t provide coverage for any testing at all. As a courtesy to our patients, we always contact their insurance providers prior to any visit to determine exactly what services will be covered at no cost to you as part of your insurance benefit.
Existing Medical Concerns Likely Won’t Be Covered As Part of an Annual Visit:
The services provided at no cost as part of an annual wellness visit do not include the evaluation and or management of any acute or chronic medical issues or concerns. To put it simply, annual wellness visits are designed to ensure that people have access to preventative care like vaccinations, blood pressure screenings, and appropriate cancer screenings. As we have mentioned, some policies will cover additional screening tests, but others will not cover any.
New medical concerns or questions, management of known medical issues (including refilling old prescriptions, writing new prescriptions, and checking appropriate lab work related to medical conditions) are not preventative in nature and will not be covered by insurance companies as part of an annual wellness visit. The cost to the patient will vary considerably based on the details of their policy and the complexity of the medical issues evaluated and managed during their visit.
Here Is An Analogy You May Find Useful:
You purchase a car that comes with 3 years of annual oil changes at no additional cost. A year later, you take your car in for an annual oil change, but you’ve also noticed a strange sound and your check engine light is on. While the oil change will be done at no cost to you, finding and addressing the issues related to the check engine light and that strange sound are not covered under the annual oil change package, so you’ll need to come out of pocket for that expense.
Annual wellness visits are just like that oil change package. For most insurance carriers and policies, they cover a certain set of preventative measures like vaccinations and cancer screenings, but they do not cover the cost of evaluating and treating high blood pressure, diabetes, knee pain, etc. Those types of issues are the check engine lights in the analogy.
Transparency is critical to us here at Family Practice Center. For years, we have made our patients aware of their specific coverage and any additional financial obligations they may incur before any tests or services are performed. We do everything we can to be as respectful to the time and financial wellbeing of all of our patients.
Key Points To Remember:
- Evaluation and treatment of a specific ailment or medical or psychological condition will not be covered as part of an annual appointment.
- This includes prescription refills, as well as any additional testing and screenings that would not be part of a normal annual exam.
- This doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be responsible for the full cost of these additional services, but only that you should not expect them to be free of charge.
- Our providers do all that we can to make our patients aware of costs associated with their visits, and look into the details of their insurance, to avoid any unwanted surprises.
We hope this information has been helpful. If you have any additional questions, don’t hesitate to contact Family Practice Center to schedule an appointment at one of our seven metro Atlanta area locations (including our newest locations in Buckhead and Johns Creek).
