Something wrong with this picture.

[Mimi2RN]

Yesterday, I had an appointment scheduled with my PCP. There were several people in the waiting room, but it was quiet.

After a few minutes, a teenage girl, maybe 16 yrs old or so came out from the exam room area over to an older woman sitting across from me.

The conversation went something like this.

Teenage girl"I have to have an MRI".

Older woman, presumably mom" You are not going to have an MRI! Who's going to pay for it?"

Girl"I need to have an MRI for my headaches".

Mom "You can't have an MRI, you need to go back and tell them that".

At that point, mom repeated that she couldn't pay for an MRI, and sent the girl back to the exam room. The girl did not look happy, but went back. Mom got up and headed down the stairs, girl came back out and followed her mom out.

The problems with health care just don't go away.I can totally understand mom's dilemma. She cared enough to take the girl to the doctor, but had no money to pay for the care. God willing, this girl has no life threatening problem, but what can we do in cases like this? It's just sad.

[Jolie, BSN]

Don't minors have to be supervised at doc visits? I know where I live they do because my son tried the I want to go in by myself thing and they came and got me and told me he was a minor and therefore had to have a guardian present. Also in my state if someone needs something I know for a fact all they have to do is put forth some effort to find help.

My friend's son just had to have an ingrown toenail taken care of and the doc only charged $60 for the whole thing. We have pay for scale clinics in every part of the island. If you need something and you don't get it here you're not trying. In Hawaii we take care of our own.

In my experience, it is necessary for an adult to give consent for the visit, but not necessarily to be present in the exam room.

One clinic where I worked allowed parents to keep a form on file giving blanket consent for their teenagers to be seen and treated.

Our doctor's office has a sign up indicating that prior arrangements must be made for a minor to be seen and treated without a parent present.

My daughter is 16. I go with her to sign in, but let her decide whether she wants me to go into to exam room or not. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Directed to the previous poster who thinks me judgemental: My point was that it is NOT the responsibility of a minor child to communicate treatment decisions shouted by her mother in the waiting room. Whether or not the mother was present for the actual exam, it was HER responsibility to communicate financial limitations to the office staff and physician, and not by publicly proclaiming an MRI out of the question. Makes me wonder what other inappropriate responsibilities she passes off on her minor child.

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

I have to say that as a mother, I would have wanted to question the doc not only to explain why I couldn't have the MRI for my child, but also to ask for any financial help/alternate tests that could be done. Most parents would at least inquire. If it is something serious, this mother will be feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders for a very long time. The way it was handled was pretty awful. This is a very scary time for many of us who have no insurance for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there are other avenues to pursue. Walking away without exploring them is a shame and forcing your young almost adult to deal with it in a childish way is awful. It really shouldn't be a young adults duty to go back in and tell the doc what her mother said only to go back, find mom, and tell her what the doc said. Sad for everyone.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

A sad and very wrong thing I also noticed about this picture is that the Mother (we're assuming) sent a MINOR back in to refuse the recommended procedure after the clinic sent the MINOR out to give the Mom the news about the recommended procedure!

[Amanda.RN]

There are so many resources available for situations like this! The nurse or case manager at the doctor's office should be notified & work on setting up services and resources. I realize that you were simply a patient waiting for your appointment, so there's nothing you can do...but hopefully the MD asked his/her nurse to work on this for the patient.

[VICEDRN, BSN, RN]

Some of y'all need to understand these resources liberal states have are not available to patients in conservative cash conscious states like Georgia. We studied the phenomena in nursing school. There are plenty of patients who literally have no one to fund their care and I see them in the er getting sicker for no reason with no payor source all the time. Seriously.

[Fiona59]

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with private health insurance and why Canada and the UK need to stay far away from it.

Yes, she might have had to wait for one here but if it was truly urgent she would have been seen within the week. Otherwise, yes she would have had to wait.

16yo are seen without parents all the time. There care is their own choice.

Does anyone KNOW if this woman was the mother? Could have been an aunt, group home leader, who knows?

[waksbr]

The mom should've been called back by the office staff or the doc to discuss treatment options. If not she should have requested it, I would never discuss my childrens care (no matter what age) in the waiting room.

As far as the cost, I'm in GA and unless you are pregnant or old getting help is next to impossible. Your always a few dollars over. We qualify income wise for the kids state assisted insurance program but aren't allowed to use it because my husband is a state employee and they rarely approve those cases....and in my particular area free or low cost assistance is uncommon.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

I can't believe you have problems like this in your health system. Here in Oz everyone can get free MRIs or other scans if absolutely necessary. They can claim them on Medicare. Even private hospitals with MRI machines must book in public patients if the patient cannot get an MRI in a public hospital, then it is 'free', charged through Medicare (though we pay more taxes for this).

Sounds like everyone needs to start demanding free health care wherever this happened. I can't believe patients' health is put at risk cos they can't afford a possibly life saving scan if needed for a diagnosis/es.

The Mum should have gone in with the daughter, I agree. That poor girl. It is a shame that money comes before health care.

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

I agree, the older woman, whoever she was, SHOULD have gone in with the girl. But she didn't. This was not a loud conversation, I just happened to be a few feet away. I was probably the only person to hear anything. I have to hope that the girl continued to talk about this, and will eventually get the care she needs.

In this city we do have low cost clinics, but this was in a group practice office. Therefore, she either has some insurance or was cash pay. And maybe pride has a lot to do with a response like that. She may not have wanted to tell anyone that she could not afford it. I'll never know the answer.

Right now we are dealing with my stepdaughter who was recently diagnosed with breast CA. She has student insurance which was maxed out with her biopsies. The first place she had scheduled her mastectomy called her after checking her insurance, and requested a down payment of $20,000. She does not live with us, she's in her mid-40's and is now single. No kids. And no money. The only good she will get from her insurance is the leverage that may reduce her bill. Anyway, she scheduled her surgery at the local hospital, will have a contract with them and still has all the other bills to worry about. She had surgery last Thursday and went back to school today.

So you can see why this struck me as wrong! Three out of our five adult children have little to no insurance. They all work, but good health insurance is not an option. I can only hope that my stepdaughter will graduate and get a job that does not deny her health care.

[mazy]

I guess one possible scenario is that it could have been a foster parent. That would explain why she wouldn't go in to the exam and why she would have just dismissed the doctor's recommendation.

I agree, the older woman, whoever she was, SHOULD have gone in with the girl. But she didn't. This was not a loud conversation, I just happened to be a few feet away. I was probably the only person to hear anything. I have to hope that the girl continued to talk about this, and will eventually get the care she needs.

In this city we do have low cost clinics, but this was in a group practice office. Therefore, she either has some insurance or was cash pay. And maybe pride has a lot to do with a response like that. She may not have wanted to tell anyone that she could not afford it. I'll never know the answer.

Right now we are dealing with my stepdaughter who was recently diagnosed with breast CA. She has student insurance which was maxed out with her biopsies. The first place she had scheduled her mastectomy called her after checking her insurance, and requested a down payment of $20,000. She does not live with us, she's in her mid-40's and is now single. No kids. And no money. The only good she will get from her insurance is the leverage that may reduce her bill. Anyway, she scheduled her surgery at the local hospital, will have a contract with them and still has all the other bills to worry about. She had surgery last Thursday and went back to school today.

So you can see why this struck me as wrong! Three out of our five adult children have little to no insurance. They all work, but good health insurance is not an option. I can only hope that my stepdaughter will graduate and get a job that does not deny her health care.

I'm so sorry about your daughter. The system really sucks, it can't be said enough. I don't understand the way we do healthcare in this country, it just keeps getting worse and worse. We have one of the worst healthcare systems in the developed world.

Much more could and will be said on the subject I'm sure.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

English is not that much hard to understand, you know.

Apparently it's difficult to write.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

It is also assumed that the young looking teenager was a minor, it is quite possible that the teen was 18 and/or that the older female may not have been her mother. A lot of assumptions have been made here, I've been surprised when I've seen someone that I would have guessed was 15 or 16 turn out to be 19 or 20 years old. If the teen was in fact a minor child, then the mother/guardian should have been brought back to discuss the plan of care and options. If the teen was legally an adult there is a non issue, she may have been over 18 and living with parent/guardian/relative with limited insurance or resources.