Fact or Fiction? You need a doctor’s order to have blood drawn and lab work completed.
That is as make-believe as unicorns (sorry Jen)!
As a follow-up to our post from this past Friday about how we handle health insurance, we wanted to give some details on the “preventative care” side of the equation.
Because we have remained as residents (domicile) of Illinois, we have kept our primary care physicians. We communicate with them through the message system in MyChart. When we flitter through Illinois we make it a point o schedule appointments with the docs for annual check-ups and prescription refills.
What about bloodwork? Both of us are on a medication that requires semi-annual blood draws to make sure everything is in order. Through MyChart, the doctor tells us exactly what labs they want to be drawn. Then we use a company called “Laboratory Assist” to personally order the labs. Laboratory Assist then contracts with a local lab, you go for the blood draw at the lab, and within a few hours the results are uploaded to both you and your doctor! Chris just had these labs drawn; TSH, T3, T4, CMP, and a CBC The total for the blood draw, analyses, and report was $37.24 and the work was done at a local Quest Lab.
Dental Care~ We both recently went to a local (Tulia, TX) dentist for a semi-annual visit. They offered a complete check-up with x-rays (panoramic and 12 bite-wing x-rays), a visit with the dentist, and a complete cleaning (and a baggie of goodies to go) all for $54.50 each! You can’t go wrong. It is because they offered a “New Patient” discount. If we had to pay the regular cost it would have cost $487.00 EACH!! Special thanks to Omar Harmouche for the fine dental service at Tulia Dental!!
Some full-time RVers will travel to Mexico for dental work, medical visits, prescriptions, and eyeglasses. It’s just not what we wanted to do, and what we paid is very comparable to Mexican prices, plus a huge savings on diesel!!
Getting prescriptions filled on the road is super easy! Many people use Walmart or Walgreens, mostly because they seem to be everywhere. We use Amazon Pharmacy. Their prices are VERY competitive, in-fact cheap! And, the prescription gets delivered right to your door, or to an Amazon Locker, if you are really off-grid.
What else are you wondering about? Put it in the comments below and we will add it to our list!
We RVery Blessed
