10 Medical Missteps

You're easily spending hundreds of dollars a year to buy into a health plan you rely on daily, yet you probably don't know what you're getting. You don't know whom to call to ask questions. You don't know who your assigned primary-care physician is. You don't know how many physical-therapy sessions you're allowed before the plan stops paying out. You don't know if you have emergency-care coverage out of state. Patients constantly ask me if their plan covers this or that. I have no idea. People express shock and horror when they're hit up for a co-pay or deductible. But it shouldn't come as a shock that your health plan is out to make a profit — off you. (It might also surprise you to learn how little doctors get paid for certain procedures: try $300 for an appendectomy.)