Uncertainty and the Challenge of Being an Informed Patient
The following anecdote is by Erin Plute, a medical student at Emory University from Marietta, Georgia, and a winner of the 2012 Costs of Care Essay Contest. The patient – blue-eyed, red-haired, and healthy but worried looking – guided the doctor’s hand to just below the angle of her jaw, where a small lump was barely palpable. She had first noticed the swollen lymph node after a cold and thought nothing of it at the time. But five months later, it was still there. She knew it was nothing, but she couldn’t shake the thought that it might be related to the...
Read MoreTalking to Your Doctor About Health Costs
Jessica Jou is currently a second year medical student at the Tufts University School of Medicine. She grew up in Taiwan where medical insurance is universally provided by the government. While in college, she lead a team of physicians and students to provide healthcare to rural villages in Nepal. They are now in their fifth year of service. And after working with the uninsured population in Boston at the Sharewood Project, she is inspired to empower patients and physicians alike to start the conversation about healthcare costs. In a new brochure developed for patients, medical student...
Read MoreSavvy patient finds hidden discounts just by asking
The following anecdote was written by Suzanne Nesmith, a patient from Arkansas who was a finalist in the 2011 Costs of Care Essay Contest. My husband and I have been self-employed for many years, and though our income is quite limited, we have always been careful with our finances, have always managed to live within our means, and have always paid our bills without assistance. We had private health insurance coverage and saw premium increases each year. Then to avoid further increases, coverage of office visits outside of deductible was dropped, and our deductible was raised to...
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