tetanus shot - booster?

[rockriver]

i mentioned somewhere else that i'm working on a house with rotten floors and lots of nails... old and rusty.
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bragging to a doctor about how i clean and prep nail punctures... he brought up some tetanus issues and some scary experiences he had with patients.
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so, i called county health dept. and asked about getting a tetanus shot. told it would be about 23$ sounds like a good investment to me.
when i got there i inquired about price again and told "usually, some get it for 23$ for some it is free, sir, do you have health insurance?"

i showed my medicare card and a supplemental plan card.. (just showed my age range!) usually i don't pay anything at doctors office. so i was expecting to be a -0- out the door customer.

she asked if i wanted just tetanus or the one with Patussin? (sp?) this would cover other stuff. i don't remember, maybe whooping cough? so i asked for the one with extra chemicals... got my shot and the bill was 64$ i was surprised and was told "sir, you have insurance, so the bill is 80 less a discount = 64. this is what we charge folks that have insurance.... !! i asked how much the insurance was paying. she said -0- i explained that means i don't have insurance for this.

bottom line, she either ripped me off or crazy bureaucratic rules. or ?? but after hearing doctors story of what tetanus can do to you,
i'm glad i got the shot.

one other factor, she got my name from her phone's caller i.d. she located my medical info from that. she asked when i had my last tetanus shot and i all i could remember was that i got one in 1994, when our house (and town!) flooded. she responded. "well, you had one in 2003.. !! i was very surprised how much she knew... about me and my medical history. i had been tested for corona there, but that is the only medical treatment at that facility. this occurred before i gave her my insurance cards... fyi.

if you haven't had a tetanus booster shot in a long time... i'll let the medical folks on here advise whether it would be a good idea or not!

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

It is usually recommended to receive a tetanus booster every 10 years (but there is evidence that it lasts longer than ten years). The one you got rr, sounds like it included pertussis as well.

further info here:

https://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/understanding-tetanus-prevention

[rockriver]

thanks patriotic...
your suspicion of added drug are correct..

folks, my last shot was 17 years ago... in a breakdown of society would i be able to be treated for injury?

small prevention cost in my mind.

[Bill Foster]

In a former line of work, I had cuts that required closing more times than I want to admit. It usually happened at 5-year intervals which required me to get a tetanus booster each time. I always get a low-grade fever and generally feel like crap for 2-3 days. My PCP once told me that some people who got tetanus shots in the WW2 era showed coverage all the way to the 80s...but he gave me a booster anyway to be safe. On the insurance scam, I have found that on the small stuff it is cheaper to claim no-coverage than to pay the co-pay. I needed an MRI a couple of years ago. Using insurance would have cost me $1200.00 out-of-pocket. Cash at a stand-alone place, $450.00. Eye exams “without insurance” are $30 cheaper than the co-pay. Cataract surgery: cash is a $200 savings without insurance coverage. It pays to shop.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Bill, I agree...shop around. My MRI's were $600 with insurance and $200 without (including radiologist reading) a few years ago. However this year it went to $250, but still cheaper than with insurance.

For Rx's look at GoodRx.com and pay cash if cheaper. Also ask provider if a specialty pharmacy would be cheaper. We use many specialty pharms in our practice depending one Rx....