Section
Health
- 986 words
Reading an explanation of benefits, and the three lines that show a billing error
The document that arrives after a medical visit is not a bill, and it is the only place where what was charged, what was allowed and what you owe appear side by side.
- 1,147 words
A pharmacist on the questions worth asking before you leave the counter
The person at the counter can answer things a ten-minute appointment has no room for, sees your whole list rather than one prescriber's part of it, and is free to talk to.
- 980 words
The sleep advice with evidence behind it, and the advice that is just habit
A short list of things that reliably help, a longer list of things that are repeated because they sound plausible, and the signs that mean the problem is medical rather than behavioral.
- 850 words
How to get your medical records, and what to do with them when they arrive
You have a right to your own records, the request takes about fifteen minutes, and the copy that arrives is more useful than most people expect once it is sorted.
- 979 words
One ten-minute appointment, prepared for twice. What changed the second time
The same patient, the same complaint, the same clinician, ten weeks apart. The second visit produced a referral and a test. The difference was one sheet of paper.
- 1,024 words
Eight phrases on a food label, and what each one is allowed to mean
Some words on a package are defined in regulation and mean exactly one thing. Others mean whatever the marketing department decided. The two look identical on the box.