A Tale of Two Scars

In the last 18 months I have had two incisions on the left side of my neck that illustrate the value of two different models of medical care, and how they each are well-suited to a particular health care need.

I told the story in July 2022 of my operation at Mayo Clinic to remove the disk between C4 and C5 in my spine and to fuse the vertebrae. That disk had been pressing on my spinal cord to the point it was squeezing out the spinal fluid and was causing tingling in my fingers and weakness in my legs.

The referral process was smooth:

• MRI in the Twin Cities on Tuesday that made it clear surgery was necessary,
• Referral from Dr. Dave Strobel to Mayo Clinic and taking the CD to the Saint Marys emergency department on Wednesday,
• Surgery Thursday afternoon, and
• Home Friday with a good outcome.

This was an ideal example of how referral from primary care to specialists is supposed to work. There are some services primary care clinics simply can't provide.

The price tag for my discectomy was $108,000 so I was grateful I had good health insurance that limited my out-of-pocket cost to $4,000. I also was grateful to have access to the skilled neurosurgery team at Mayo Clinic.

This past August I felt some irritation on my neck while using my electric razor, and after watching it for a few weeks I showed the spot to Dr. Strobel at HELPcare Clinic, who examined it with a dermascope and decided to take a punch biopsy.

We sent the specimen to Labcorp for evaluation, and when the pathology report came back saying it was a basal skin carcinoma (the least serious skin cancer), Dr. Strobel excised it as an office procedure.

The price at HELPcare Clinic? $0.

And not just because I work there. Mine wasn't the first basal skin cancer removed at HELPcare Clinic in 2023. Another member had the same procedure earlier, at the same price.

According to the medical price transparency site Billy, the average cost in southern Minnesota for removal of a skin lesion like this, and the pathology report to confirm that the margins were clear of cancer cells, would be about $2,500.

Or about $1,000 more than an annual HELPcare Clinic membership.

Beyond office procedures like this, membership includes:

• Office visits at $0 charge
• More than 100 diagnostic blood tests at $0 charge, and
• Two metabolic health coaching sessions at $0 charge.

Our goal is to help members to avoid expensive specialty care when the service can be provided at HELPcare Clinic.

So together, my two scars tell an important tale:

1. The first shows why it's important to have health insurance to cover potentially catastrophic expenses, and the value of having specialty care available at Mayo Clinic.
2. The second illustrates how you can save enough in a single episode of care to more than pay for a whole year of HELPcare Clinic membership.

At HELPcare Clinic you can get most of the health care you need for most of your life. Request our free Saving Through Membership booklet to learn more.

Send me Saving Through Membership!

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Lee Aase

Lee Aase is the founder of HELPcare LLC, which provides comprehensive membership, marketing and management services for provider-owned HELPcare Clinics, as well as metabolic health education and coaching for people interested in restoring health and reversing disease through lifestyle changes. Lee and his wife Lisa live in Austin, MN and have six married children and 19 grandchildren.