Healthcare groups across the country, including Lee Health, are delaying some elective procedures to deal with the rising cases of COVID-19. However, those delays can affect the cost of care for patients. Elective procedures are case-by-case, but experts urge patients to get informed and speak with multiple professionals before taking any action. Hospitals are nearing […]
There are not enough primary care doctors to go around, and that’s just one piece of the puzzle for why all of Southwest Florida is considered “medically underserved.” It’s been this way for years, and at the rate we’re going, Florida is projected to have the second-largest physician shortage in the country by 2030. According […]
Anyone who has seen a doctor lately knows just how costly care can be. Unpaid medical debt is now unimaginable, reaching into the hundreds of billions. A newly published study shows people in the South have the most trouble paying up. Nearly 20% of people have a medical debt of around $400, and that debt […]
While staying in Naples for the winter, Margaret Sheahan and her mother Mary Beth found themselves in a dilemma all too common during 2020: they were exposed to COVID-19 and needed a test before potentially exposing more members of their family. When they showed up at Well-Being Medical Center they were asked to pay $150 […]
Gasoline and toilet paper aren’t the only things that have been in short supply this year …Prescription drug shortages continue to plague people who rely on those drugs to live a normal, healthy life. One man we spoke to said he couldn’t get his stomach medicine until July. If you found yourself in a situation […]
Insurance companies cover preventative care as an incentive for you to stay on top of your health; however, there is fine print for these so-called free exams and procedures with health care providers. A viewer from Fort Myers contacted WINK News’ Cost of Care after getting an unexpected $240 bill at what was supposed to […]
Karen Lawson was surprised when her doctor’s office told her she had a $500 charge for her bi-annual bone density shot. Lawson spent her life working in medical billing, so she considers herself pretty sharp when it comes to understanding her medical costs. “It was my understanding that Medicare was going to cover it and […]
Susan Leslie was elated to get the COVID vaccine weeks before she expected. She got her first dose in mid-January through a major hospital system in Central Texas. But that excitement turned to disappointment when she was asked to pay a $51 charge for the shot administration. “I really got angry, and I think that’s […]
It was his fifth marriage and her second, but they were together for more than 20 years. Karen Ballard gets emotional just saying her husband Tom’s name. “He was the most amazing man and he was the love of my life,” she said. Tom Ballard died in January, eight months after a surgery that was […]
Doctors in an Orlando area hospital saved Kevin Rathel’s life in April. After three weeks in the hospital and some time on the ventilator, he was released. But months later, the Rathels still don’t know how much of his hospitalization and care they will have to pay for. “You’ve gone through this big ordeal, and […]