Dear Editor:

I feel the necessity of relaying an experience our family had at the new urgent care center at St. Andrews. We have health insurance through our small business but it is a policy with a $5,000 deductible, which we have never met in over 15 years of coverage. On Thanksgiving weekend, my 18-year-old daughter had a severe sore throat and flu symptoms. She was to return to the University of Maine the next day and as all doctor's offices were closed, I decided to take her to the urgent care center. We arrived at about 6 p.m. on Saturday.

There was one other patient besides my daughter. The care was professional and good. She was given a rapid strep test, which was negative. The doctor then proceeded to talk us into a blood test for mono, which was also negative. He gave her a prescription for antibiotics (just in case it wasn't viral) and sent us on our way.

She returned to school the next day. The date of service was November 20, 2013. The bill came yesterday, 44 days after our visit. The total bill was $617.29 and had been reduced from $675.78 due to our health insurance. We will pay this out of pocket.

This is an untenable amount of money for the average person to pay for a strep and mono test. The “facility” charge was by far the biggest expense on the bill amounting to $284.

We will be avoiding the urgent care center from now on, which is too bad because the service and care was very good. We cannot afford more bills of this kind.  

Lisa McSwain
Edgecomb