As most of you know, I was training for a 10k this fall, as part of my 2014 goal to run in two road races. Unfortunately, before I could complete the second race, I started getting a pain in my foot. I was worried that it was a stress fracture, so I made an appointment with my family doctor. She examined my foot and then sent me to the hospital for an x-ray. A follow up appointment with her confirmed that it was NOT a stress fracture, so she prescribed me some physiotherapy and sent me on my merry way.
Now, since I live in Canada, and we have universal health care (not free health care, we just pay for it in our taxes), everything had been free up until this point. Unfortunately, physiotherapy is not covered by medicare and I was going to have to pay for it out of pocket.
Paying For Physiotherapy Out of Pocket
Now, I love running, and I spend a lot of time devoted to this hobby, but I haven’t spent a lot of money on it. Besides equipping myself with gear when I first started, and buying new shoes once every few years, I really haven’t spent much money on running at all, and that’s part of why I like it so much – it’s a frugal way to stay fit. But spending money on physiotherapy? That’s basically the opposite of frugal, and my budget just doesn’t have room for extravagances like that.
Paying For Physiotherapy Through My Employer
Fortunately, I have a health insurance plan through my employer. This plan covers plenty of things that Canadian medicare doesn’t, like dental work, eye exams, prescriptions, and … you guessed it: physiotherapy. I have $500 per calendar year to spend on physio. I was really happy when I looked up exactly what my plan covers and found this out, because I really wanted to get to the bottom of what’s been bothering my foot, but I don’t have money to spend on things like physio.
My First Physiotherapy Appointment
I had my first appointment last night, and it was very illuminating. I found out a lot about my gait and stride, and my therapist gave me some great insight into why I am the way I am. At the end, she taped up my foot and instructed me to go for a run. As I was leaving, I paid my bill, and was very happy to know that I could submit for reimbursement through my health insurance company. At this rate I can pay for about 6 sessions, which I’m hoping will be enough to figure out my issues. If it’s not…well I’m just going to have to let rest heal my injury – because paying for these sessions out of pocket isn’t in the cards right now.
My First Run in Six Weeks
Today I went for my first run in about six weeks. I’ve still been exercising in that time, I just laid off the running for fear of aggravating my injury. I had zero expectations for this run, which is good because my foot started hurting 3.85km in. I still managed to finish up a full 5km, and let me tell you, do I ever miss running. Being out in the fresh air with my faithful running partner Molly (my dog) at my side, there’s nothing better than that. After my run I iced my foot (as per my therapist’s instructions) and I’m looking forward to my next appointment.
Here’s hoping I can get to the bottom of this, because I can’t not be a runner.
When was the last time you wanted to take advantage of a health care provider but cost was an issue? I want to know!