Another small town rant

It has been a while, you knew it was coming...

Alex woke up with a toothache and we have a brand spankin' new insurance company so today I tried to find a new Dentist. Not a problem... the town is full of them. Finding a Dentist that is in network, however, is a whole 'nother story. There are two, and they are both in the same office. Neither of them are accepting new patients. Wonderful!

I found a dentist through a friend. Not in network, but they can get him in at 8am tomorrow, and will only have me pay 20% until they bill my insurance company. Cleaning, exam, x-rays are covered at 100%, but they will only pay the "going rate" based on the Dr's zip code. So if he charges $100 and they have determined that most dentists in the area charge $80, I have to pay the additional $20. Is that normal? I have either been incredibly lucky or incredibly blind to our coverage before.

I managed to find two Family Practice Doctors in town, but don't even get me started about hospitals. There is a perfectly good (in fact great) hospital a few blocks from us. Not in network. I have to drive to Bay City to get a hospital in network. We only go to the hospital in emergency situations (like most sane people) so I can't see us driving to Bay City for an emergency.

Rant over... maybe.