The American Medical Clinic

Or is it the American Medical Center? That was a very interesting dilemma that Olga and I faced last Friday when we were at the Clinic, but really should have been at the Center. They are on the same street, they are not related at all and it was not overtly clear on our medical card as to which one we should go to.

Olga's teeth were still bothering her, even after the removal of the right-side wisdom teeth, so we took her to the doctor to see if they could find anything. We figured that since we were already going to be at the Clinic we would also have them draw my blood for tests so that I can eventually work here. So the girl at the front desk asked for my passport. Didn't bring it...oh boy. The girl informs Olga that they would not do the test without my passport. Let the games begin. After about 5 or 10 minutes of, we'll just call it 'discussion', Olga won out and they agreed to do the test based on my NY driver's license. Great. I fill out some paperwork, take it back to the same girl and she informs me that they will not do the test because it is 'a very serious test'. I protest, but know that this is going nowhere and so I go back to find Olga.

We speak to her doctor about this and he says 'f*&^$&# beauracracy here is unbelievable'. Oh yeah, did I mention that this doctor is Russian (remember where we are at) AND he was over an hour late seeing Olga. Did I also mention that she was his first appointment of the day? In the end, they draw my blood and run a battery of tests on Olga. All is good.

But wait, remember the opening? As we are preparing to leave a lady informs Olga that she has a bill from her previous visit. That comes as a bit of a surprise, as there is no deductible on our insurance (that's right folks, NO deductible). Well now, this is getting interesting. Turns out we really should be at the American Medical Center because our insurance is not valid at the Clinic. They want a not insignificant amount of money for the last bill and I'm sure that the prior one is nothing compared to the one that was run up on the current visit. More 'discussions' and the director of billing agrees to let us leave and discuss the situation with the insurance company. The lady from billing was not going to let us go anywhere until we paid in full (no joke, she was standing between Olga and the door).

In the end all worked out, although many people have had a good laugh over this. The insurance company agreed to pay the bill, which was quite nice since this really was our mistake. We now know to go to the Center (it looks much nicer and is closer to the Metro stop anyway). My bloodwork is all taken care of. And most importantly, Olga's teeth no longer hurt! The doctor didn't help her tooth ache, but the root canal she had on Sunday at the American Dental Center did.

I would blame all of this on Olga, but we all know that is not a good idea.