Hello. i was talking with my mom yesterday, and she mentioned that after my 6-week well-baby checkup,she didn't take me back to the Dr. unless i was sick.She also took me for my vaccines at the public health clinic, which is evidently much cheaper.
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i didn't know you didn't have to take your kid to the doctor all the time. i've faithfully been taking David all the times they said, even if he wasn't sick and i wasn't worried about him. We pay 20% of our health bills after the deductible, so if we could avoid some of the well-child checkups, and only pay for his occasional vaccines much less expensively than at the doctor, we'd save quite a bit of money. (i think we paid about $600 for him to see the doctor his first year of life.)
It was comforting, taking him to the Dr.and getting him weighed and getting his "percentiles". The Dr.would tell us when we could give him solid foods, and when we could start him on milk, etc. The thing is, did i really need her to tell us those things? This information is easily available online and in books. Was it worth the $80/visit to have a Dr. tell us those things?
i will definitely take Cadence to the Dr. until she's for sure settled in with at least a couple good weigh-ins, a good eating routine, and all those things you worry about with the new babies. But when we're all comfortable, it might be nice to avoid the less necessary checkups, if she isn't sick.
i know David well enough to know when something is wrong, so i feel confident that my kids wouldn't be suffering from some disease because i failed to take them to their well checkup.
What do you all think? Should i continue to take them to the Dr. for well checkups, or should i save the money, and only take them when they're sick or need vaccinations? The medical bills will only get worse with two kids: i just don't want to waste money, but also don't want to be irresponsible with my kids' health in the name of frugality.
What do you think?
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1 month ago
7 comments:
I never thought about not taking them. we just pay a copay but I think if we paid as much as you I would think about not taking them. I know with Lexi's pediatrician I could stop in and get her weighed without being charged, if you were concerned with Cadence's weight you could try that.
I wonder what the doctor's would say if we didn't take them. I'm interested to know if anyone lately has done that. I agree with you I don't think it's as big of a deal with the older babies/ kids.
So how are you doing?
I always took my girls to their appts. I thing after they're a year old, it's not so often.
So, I don't think about that as all of our well baby checks and vaccinations are covered 100%. I guess if you're comfortable with not taking them, then don't take them in.
This is not an area where I would cut corners. I think you should still take the kids to the doctor for their well-check visit.
My kids and I all go to the same family practioner, and I can't tell you how helpful that has been. I've been able to ask questions about other family members or myself during a well-check and my doctor has been very helpful (and saved me the co-pay!).
Also, doctors are trained to scope out developmental delays, etc., and may notice things you may not even think of that could help keep your child healthy. To me, that's worth the money right there.
I think seeing a doctor regularly is also good because you are reminded to come back. It would be very easy to forget 18-month shots..
Finally, when it comes time to send your kids to school, I think it would be much easier to know your children's health records are all in one location... you don't have to track them all down.
I would bring my kids to the doctor. I think there's a price for being too frugal, but that's just me.
I took my daughter's the first year. But my insurance covered all but $5 a visit.
Honestly, I don't think the visits were worth my time.
I think that you could stop after the first few. You can surely find all the growth info online, can't you?
Also, have you looked into medicaid for kids? I don't know how you feel about government aid, but if you qualify, then I would encourage you to take them up on it. You and Kris are the kind of people who the government should be helping. You won't take advantage of a broken system, and he works his butt off to provide what he does, and you are a rockstar mom.
Just my 2 cents.
I think the amount you pay for well baby visits is grossly high. I don't really know how insurance works because there are so many different ones but I would call and see if you can get a better rate for preventive medicine. You can mention that with well baby visits the DR. can spot things before they become an expensive problem. Would you (the insurance company) rather have a pediatrition checking baby's ears regularily or potentially deal with a permanent hearing loss. See if they can modify your policy so your out of pocket is less. Ear infections are one reason I still keep taking mine. Sometimes they are asymptomatic or can be brushed off as teething pain but left unchecked can lead to delays in speach and hearing problems. Good luck with whatever you decide. I did like the comment about having all your records in one place as I forgot to copy down some stuff and had to call a few times to get my boys' info all together.
I would still take them. Like Christina said, they are trained to catch things we may not even notice. And when we were kids, it was a different time. There wasn't as much emphasis on preventative care...we reacted, we weren't proactive.
Why can't you have their well visits at the clinic as well as the shots? Maybe that would help as well. And how much is your peace of mind worth? Will you stress about every little things if you don't regularly see the doctor? Good Luck with your decision.
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