Seeing a Dermatologist
Andrea’s acne was getting worse by the day. Not only did it not look good, but it made her feel self-conscious. She wanted to go see a dermatologist about her skin condition. Andrea had health insurance trough her job. When she signed up for the health plan, she chose a primary care physician. That doctor would take care of Andrea’s basic health needs. The primary care physician was not a dermatologist though. If Andrea wanted the health insurance to pay for the dermatologist, she first needed to make an appointment with her regular physician. Otherwise, Andrea would have to pay out of her own pocket to see a dermatologist.
Andrea called her primary care provider. She had to wait a week for an appointment since her acne was not an emergency. When it was time for the appointment, she showed her doctor the acne problem. Her primary care physician was able to prescribe a skin cream for Andrea. Andrea used that skin cream for a week, but her acne did not get any better. She called her doctor back. The doctor couldn’t do anything else for her. So the doctor gave her a referral to see a skin specialist, a dermatologist.
Andrea called the dermatologist, but she had to wait another three weeks for an appointment. Her acne had gotten worse over these three weeks. When she finally saw the dermatologist, he ran a number of blood tests and allergy tests. The dermatologist told Andrea that the acne was actually an allergic reaction to fried foods. Andrea thought it was a lot of trouble to finally find out what was wrong. She was happy though now that she knew all she had to do was not to eat fried food, which was not good for her waistline or her skin.
