Accidently went to the Emergency Room for a clogged ear

[The motor guy]

So I have one ear with a bunch of earwax in it from ear plugs. From now on im going back to ear muffs because this isnt the first time this has happened. Anyways, I got the hair brained idea to go to an urgent care late tonight to just get it taken care of. They said they accepted my insurance when i called earlier. Well that turned out not to be the case. Decided to just find another place that took my insurance and it didnt occur to me it was a full blown ER. Anyways, the doctor said he didnt have the tools to remove the earwax because it was an emergency room and that's not an emergency. Could have told me that at the front desk. The front desk girl even verified they could treat that. Anyways, how cooked am I now? I dont even think the insurance covers anything until I meet my deductible. They said oh your insurance will send you something in the mail showing what they covered. Before I went back to get treated she made it sound like it was all covered, but thats obviously not the case. I wonder how much I'll be charged when they didnt do anything? The front desk girl said the billing is a separate department entirely, but said it starts at $350 and could be as high as $3000. Not sure how she came up with that though if she doesn't have anything to do with the billing. They just referred me to an ENT and that was it. I sure hope I dont get charged $2000 for this and I bet I wont wont know until 3 months from now when they finally send a bill. I feel so dumb right now.

 

[nomas]

I just went to my ENT had had my ears flushed out last week .

 

[SOUNDMAN5000]

I had a issue a few years back as I was on vacation out of state and forgot to bring my meds. 4 days later I have a full on Gout attack and had to visit the ER, As I remember I was seen by a Doc and given a steroid shot and and sent on my way with a prescription or something?
The Hospital had some kind of issue on its end billing my out of State insurance . All I know is I bet I had 30+ phone calls and ended up after the year mark my insurance refused to pay. and the ER started coming after me! The bill was like $1,300 and then turned into a $700 bill. I refused to pay it and told the Hospital the billing issue was on her end and the best thing she could do was make my bill go away. She did, ask for cash self pay discounts, hard ship etc

 

[97prizm]

So I have one ear with a bunch of earwax in it from ear plugs. From now on im going back to ear muffs because this isnt the first time this has happened. Anyways, I got the hair brained idea to go to an urgent care late tonight to just get it taken care of. They said they accepted my insurance when i called earlier. Well that turned out not to be the case. Decided to just find another place that took my insurance and it didnt occur to me it was a full blown ER. Anyways, the doctor said he didnt have the tools to remove the earwax because it was an emergency room and that's not an emergency. Could have told me that at the front desk. The front desk girl even verified they could treat that. Anyways, how cooked am I now? I dont even think the insurance covers anything until I meet my deductible. They said oh your insurance will send you something in the mail showing what they covered. Before I went back to get treated she made it sound like it was all covered, but thats obviously not the case. I wonder how much I'll be charged when they didnt do anything? The front desk girl said the billing is a separate department entirely, but said it starts at $350 and could be as high as $3000. Not sure how she came up with that though if she doesn't have anything to do with the billing. They just referred me to an ENT and that was it. I sure hope I dont get charged $2000 for this and I bet I wont wont know until 3 months from now when they finally send a bill. I feel so dumb right now.

I have excessive ear wax build up. Look for an ear drop labeled Carbamide peroxide. It comes in a kit with a bulb to gently flush out ear wax with hot water. It's much much gentler on you ears and reduces build up. For years As a kid My mom used hydrogen peroxide but audiologist now say to not use that.

 

[dnewton3]

Nobody "accidentally" walks into a "full blown ER" and doesn't know it.

If you have a deductible, it would have to be met regardless of where you go. If you were calling around to find places that took your insurance, why would it matter where you walk into; you're going to pay no matter where you end up.

That "something" they will send in the mail is called an EOB (explanation of benefits). It will explain what is and isn't covered, and how much you'll have to pay for each charged item. Have you never used insurance before???

 

[Analog-1]

If they did not to much it will likely cost you 800 to 1000 dollars just to be seen.

 

[tc1446]

My family Dr & Audiologist both told me peroxide was ok! Be on safe side whatever u use.

 

[nomas]

My ENT said to use Hydrogen Peroxide .

 

[SilentType]

I used to have a terrible time with excess ear wax(still do) especially in spring and fall, with clogged ears several times a year. I went to an EMT about 20 years ago to flush out my ears. His advice was to clean my ears now and then with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol to prevent clogging.
It has worked wonders for me, would recommend.

 

[captainbeandip]

Nobody "accidentally" walks into a "full blown ER" and doesn't know it.

If you have a deductible, it would have to be met regardless of where you go. If you were calling around to find places that took your insurance, why would it matter where you walk into; you're going to pay no matter where you end up.

That "something" they will send in the mail is called an EOB (explanation of benefits). It will explain what is and isn't covered, and how much you'll have to pay for each charged item. Have you never used insurance before???

Not necessarily. It depends on the insurance. With mine (for example), an in-network urgent care center is treated almost the same as a regular clinic visit, which means a $35 co-pay for almost anything that they do there, and the deductible doesn't come into play.

An in-network ER is 10% co-pay until the deductible is met.

So with my insurance, it can make a big difference in cost to go to an emergency room vs. urgent care.

As I mentioned, this is how mine works, yours and everyone else's might be different.

 

[Astro14]

I think it’s time you learned how to clean your own ears and begin doing it regularly.

Using an ER (whether paid for by insurance or not) to get this done is a waste of the ER resources that should be reserved for serious medical conditions.

 

[The motor guy]

My ENT said to use Hydrogen Peroxide .

Ive done that a few times. Didnt do anything

 

[The motor guy]

Nobody "accidentally" walks into a "full blown ER" and doesn't know it.

If you have a deductible, it would have to be met regardless of where you go. If you were calling around to find places that took your insurance, why would it matter where you walk into; you're going to pay no matter where you end up.

That "something" they will send in the mail is called an EOB (explanation of benefits). It will explain what is and isn't covered, and how much you'll have to pay for each charged item. Have you never used insurance before???

These urgent care places are on every street corner around here. They're as common as gas stations. It was the third one I went to.

 

[The motor guy]

I think it’s time you learned how to clean your own ears and begin doing it regularly.

Using an ER (whether paid for by insurance or not) to get this done is a waste of the ER resources that should be reserved for serious medical conditions.

Im just going to quit using ear plugs. Was never an issue until then. The earwax should fall out on its own. Used to anyways

 

[The motor guy]

Nobody "accidentally" walks into a "full blown ER" and doesn't know it.

If you have a deductible, it would have to be met regardless of where you go. If you were calling around to find places that took your insurance, why would it matter where you walk into; you're going to pay no matter where you end up.

That "something" they will send in the mail is called an EOB (explanation of benefits). It will explain what is and isn't covered, and how much you'll have to pay for each charged item. Have you never used insurance before???

not necessarily. The only thing that requires the deductible to be met on my policy is if you go to the er. Urgent care is $75 and a specialist is $100. Prescriptions dont require it to be met either. I have asthma which is one of the main reasons I carry insurance. They want a ton of money for asthma inhalers in the US unless its just a basic albuterol inhaler. Depending on the year, they want anywhere from $400-$900 for my typical inhaler

 

[mrsilv04]

A few weeks back, I made an appointment to see a nurse practitioner (not even a doctor) in the ENT department for seasonal allergies. As part of the exam, he looked in my ears and stated that they needed to be cleaned out, so he did it as part of my 20 minute visit. He also scoped my nose, to check my nasal passages and sinuses for any issues.

For a 20 minute office visit, which consisted of a prescription for allergy medicine, cleaning my ears, and scoping my nose and sinuses, the bill submitted to my insurance was $1,992.00.... and I didn't get anywhere near the ER Department. I pay $40.

Good luck.

 

[Bailes1992]

I had a blocked year back in January and went to a local hearing specialist. They vaccum'd out both of my ears for £60. It must have been building up for an awful long time, I couldn't believe how good my hearing was. It took me days to get used to the amount of noise my clothes made as I walked around.

 

[Zee09]

I accidentally married my next door neighbor one time and my wife gave me an ear job... so i get it

 

[The motor guy]

A few weeks back, I made an appointment to see a nurse practitioner (not even a doctor) in the ENT department for seasonal allergies. As part of the exam, he looked in my ears and stated that they needed to be cleaned out, so he did it as part of my 20 minute visit. He also scoped my nose, to check my nasal passages and sinuses for any issues.

For a 20 minute office visit, which consisted of a prescription for allergy medicine, cleaning my ears, and scoping my nose and sinuses, the bill submitted to my insurance was $1,992.00.... and I didn't get anywhere near the ER Department. I pay $40.

Good luck.

Well it's mistake I wont make again lol. The front desk girl just told me what I wanted to hear is all. Everything is okay on my end with your insurance I dont see any reasons why they wouldnt pay were her words exactly. I mean I try..... its not I dont ask questions at all and just assume everything. I guess I just dont ask them the right questions to ensure coverage. Next time I need to ask to verify which copay it fell under. They had me pay $50 which didnt make sense, but I didnt say anything.

 

[IndyIan]

Get a 150ml syringe(without a needle!) Put a couple drops of mineral oil into one ear, keep your head tilted for a few minutes, it will soften the wax. Go have a shower and shoot some warm water right into your ear until the wax comes out. Then do the other ear.