we are getting off topic but entering the world of health care billing and insurance is extremely intimidating and stressful. Starting with MiR's easy step one of going to the website of your provider. OK, I'll find a doctor listed on their site. Are they REALLY in my network? do I even need an in-network provider? Are they in my network for my level of plan? are they actually taking patients?
And then you start to get bills (maybe). I actually upgraded to a plan that covered out-of-network treatment this year. When I went to the website to figure out how to file an out-of-network claim, I learned you could do it VIA MAIL ONLY. WHAT THE eff. Of course I haven't done it yet, and that's 100% the intended result by requiring you to mail in claims.
This stuff is shitty but we really shouldn't excuse not having routine heath checks, no matter the hassle. There are a lot of things that you can only find and fix with routine blood work. I now get checked every six months.
The provider websites do suck but after you do it the first time they are a breeze. For most of them, I've had 4 carriers in 7 years, about to get my fifth, so I've had a lot of practice with this.
Most of the sites give you the in network provider for your plan after you sign up for an online account. The more advanced sites also tell you which providers are taking new patients. In this era of corporatized health care, nearly every provider will take any plan that an employer would give you. In your given area of residence/employment there aren't going to be hardly any providers who don't belong to a gigantic health conglomo anyway.
Bottom line is your health is way more important to ignore because you don't want to be bothered by the 15-45 minutes it would take to find a doctor. I found out about a liver issue that I had and corrected, and a high triglycerides issue I corrected, that I wouldn't have seen without annual blood work.