ehbowen
27th January 2004, 01:59 AM
Well, I got my paperwork from Michigan. For Christmas, my parents gave me an hour driving (http://www.mstrp.com/efh04.pdf) the locomotive (http://www.mstrp.com/pm1225.html) I use for my avatar. This is going to happen in July. But there is an FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) medical form I need to have filled out by a doctor before I can get my student engineer's license.
It's not much of an exam, basically just a vision and hearing test. And it's not that strict: 20/40 vision in both eyes, corrected, with 70 degree field of vision, and maximum 40 db hearing loss at normal conversational frequencies. Piece of cake. I figure five minutes with an eye chart, five minutes on the audiometer, and I'm outta there. Had I gone to the doctor I've been seeing since 1968, I'm sure that's what would have happened. So begins my tale....
My company's division was sold out from under me effective January 1. As part of the transition I had to select a new "Primary Care Physician"--and my old doctor wasn't on the list. So I picked the two closest to my house and ended up being assigned to my second choice. I wasn't too thrilled about changing doctors but I figured that this guy has graduated medical school, he's covered by my new insurance, so what the hey, give him a try.
So I set up an appointment, asking for a vision and hearing test. To make a long story short, I ended up being referred to an ophthalmologist (even though I told the man I just got a clean bill of health and new glasses which correct me to 20/15 from my optometrist last month), an ear-nose-and-throat specialist, having a full set of blood work done, and a follow-up visit scheduled for two weeks from now.
To be fair, I can understand the blood work; my old doctor had put me on some cholesterol-lowering medicine and I don't blame the new doctor for wanting to check its effects. But the referrals to specialists for simple vision and hearing checks leave me scratching my head. My copays are not too bad, so I can afford it, but still--counting the specialists and the followup visit, it would probably have been cheaper for me to simply go to my old doctor and pay cash.
Just wanted to vent. Anyone else have a war story?
It's not much of an exam, basically just a vision and hearing test. And it's not that strict: 20/40 vision in both eyes, corrected, with 70 degree field of vision, and maximum 40 db hearing loss at normal conversational frequencies. Piece of cake. I figure five minutes with an eye chart, five minutes on the audiometer, and I'm outta there. Had I gone to the doctor I've been seeing since 1968, I'm sure that's what would have happened. So begins my tale....
My company's division was sold out from under me effective January 1. As part of the transition I had to select a new "Primary Care Physician"--and my old doctor wasn't on the list. So I picked the two closest to my house and ended up being assigned to my second choice. I wasn't too thrilled about changing doctors but I figured that this guy has graduated medical school, he's covered by my new insurance, so what the hey, give him a try.
So I set up an appointment, asking for a vision and hearing test. To make a long story short, I ended up being referred to an ophthalmologist (even though I told the man I just got a clean bill of health and new glasses which correct me to 20/15 from my optometrist last month), an ear-nose-and-throat specialist, having a full set of blood work done, and a follow-up visit scheduled for two weeks from now.
To be fair, I can understand the blood work; my old doctor had put me on some cholesterol-lowering medicine and I don't blame the new doctor for wanting to check its effects. But the referrals to specialists for simple vision and hearing checks leave me scratching my head. My copays are not too bad, so I can afford it, but still--counting the specialists and the followup visit, it would probably have been cheaper for me to simply go to my old doctor and pay cash.
Just wanted to vent. Anyone else have a war story?