When my sister called this morning to cancel the tea party she had scheduled with Katie, I knew she was sick. Because her husband is out of town, I offered to take her to the doctor, and to my surprise, she said yes. The nearest one that accepts her insurance is 45 miles away, so we knew that we were in for a lengthy and expensive little trip.
Her insurance, if I may put it nicely, stinks! An urgent/walk-in visit has a co-pay of $100. While Swagbucking to find the nearest clinic, a link to a local news story featuring the grand opening of the new Wal-Mart clinics popped up. We decided to try there first, to see what services were offered and how well they meshed with her insurance policy.
We were pleasantly surprised at the prices, cleanliness, and politeness of the staff. Even though it was a Saturday, not to mention the day after a holiday, she was in and out in under an hour. And that was with the computers down! Everything was being processed by hand. Office visits were mostly $50 each, with those requiring labs (such as strep and kidney infections) priced at $75. Insurance was accepted as a normal office visit, so she was able to pay her $40 co-pay and the other $10 was to be billed to her insurance.
I would highly recommend this if you are in a bind and have a basic illness. They are unable to treat cuts, broken bones, or breathing problems that could require further diagnosis.
The ones in our area are members of the CoxHealth network (in case you are wondering). The hours are 10-7 on Saturday, 11-4 on Sunday, and I didn’t catch those for Monday-Friday.
(K- if you’re reading this, I’m SORRY!!!
