That makes perfect sense, assuming your annual deductible was met after you paid your $500 copay. Deductible means you pay for the first $x in a year. After that, your insurer starts paying some portion (your portion is called copay). Then you hit your out of pocket maximum (for in network services), after which insurer pays 100%.
No - I hadn't hit my out of pocket max, by a long shot, even after the second encounter. They could have happened in either order - and the emergency visit would have been MUCH cheaper out of pocket for me.
Then I don't know what definition of deductible your insurance company is using, but it doesn't match my experience with any insurer ever, health or otherwise.
It's simple - I have a flat $500 copay for an "ER encounter" regardless of what they do in the ER. Just like you have a $40 or whatever copay for a regular doctor visit.
The deductible must be paid before copays come into play. If you have a $2,000 deductible, then you will pay whatever the insurance company has negotiated with the in network provider for the billing codes the provider bills, up to $2,000. After that, the copays amounts come into effect.
Most health insurance plans have a few services that are copay-limited even before you hit your deductible. i.e., the $40 for an office visit to your primary care doctor, $90 to see a specialist, and in my case $500 for the ER visit. Imaging and procedures are my problem from the start, up to the deductible though ... apparently unless they happen in the ER.
Like I said way up-thread, the way it's structured puts the incentives in the wrong place for me. Had my two visits for ER and scans been in the opposite order, I would have been out of pocket the same total.
Anyway - I'm done arguing with you. I know how my plan works and what I've paid this year, whether you believe me or not.
