A Physical Exam Story

My cholesterol prescription would not be renewed without the annual lab work so I went ahead and set up my annual Physical exam. It was a typical non eventful exam. We discussed my lab results. We discussed my meds, should we change them or adjust the dosage. We discussed diet and exercise. He asked if I wanted to discuss smoking cessation and I said No, We had discussed those options enough in past visits and I know the discussion and my options by heart.
He asked me about my Hernia and how has it healed, I said fine considering I never had a Hernia, you must have someone else records mixed in with mine. My prescriptions were renewed for another year and I went home. Happy and feeling healthy.

Here it is a month later and a bill has arrived. $32.00 for a 3 - 10 minute Smoking Cessation consultation. A consultation that was about 10 seconds consisting of him asking me do you want to discuss the smoking and I said NO. I was furious!! I felt betrayed! Used! My past exams were with another insurance provider. If these discussions were charged for in the past I never saw the billings for them and were covered by the Health care provider.

I thought now I have to be careful on what I discuss with my doctor. Will I be billed for discussing my meds another $32.00, my diet $32.00, blood pressure $32.00 , Medical history $32.00. Do I have to ask is this a billable question before I ask my doctor something now? Will I be afraid to ask the questions I need to ask about health concerns because I might be billed for discussing it? It really Pisses me off to be billed for a doctor patient discussion that is part of an annual examination. It has in a very significant manner destroyed the patient doctor trust I had with the doctors.

Oh and that Hernia -- is that a really a mix-up in patient records or is that billed on my insurance also?

I have to wonder. Actually this made me start to wonder about a few things.
Will I be declined coverage for future health concerns if this discussion was declined the fifth time?Do they have a check list they just check off that just automatically trigger billing that they are required to ask and do like they do at the oil change centers or car warranty shops?

But here is the real bummer about this charge. I am just going to use some hypothetical numbers out of my head. Say 100 of the patients that visited that 1 clinic that day were also billed for that same $32.00 consultation, that's $3200. Say there are another 1000 clinics throughout the state that also does this 100 number per day. That comes to $3,200,000 per day. If each of the states does the same, that's $160,000,000 per day or $8,000,000,000 a week, $41,600,000,000 per year being billed or covered by our medical system just for asking if you need help to quit smoking. Just how many bogus charges like this are we getting hit up with that do little for health care except increase health care costs?