U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
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Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#2Healthcare will always be overpriced so long as we allow this guild system to limit the supply of doctors for its own member's profit. Everything else is window dressing.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#3To me hospitals are basically scam operations. My girlfriend has had several surgeries in the last two years. In addition to already outrageous standard prices ($40000 surgical center cost for a surgery where we spent in total five hours at the center) pretty much every bill had mistakes. Then after a few months a collection agency will try to collect for something that never got billed and never has happened. I can accept a mistake from time to time but this seems to be pervasive.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#4I know this will attract a lot of people who have suggestions for healthcare.
Let me add my big one: price transparency.
I had a simple test the other day. I could not get a price. I could not get a price with my insurance, or without it. I called at least 9 times. I got 5 call backs from people who asked me to schedule the procedure but no price.
On the 10th call, I finally got someone to tell me what the out-of-pocket price would be without insurance. She told me a range! It was $96-$115. This was close to the range that google says was about average for the procedure.
So this was not a case of over-charging, or unfair pricing. I really did not know if the test was $10,000 or $100 till this call.
If they just made the pricing transparent, I think a lot of the problems would evaporate.
(Although I think the profit centers would suddenly become the emergency medicine section of the hospital.)
I know this article focuses on fraud, but the non-fraud part of the healthcare is just as broken, and probably costs more.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#5To me hospitals are basically scam operations. My girlfriend has had several surgeries in the last two years. In addition to already outrageous standard prices ($40000 surgical center cost for a surgery where we spent in total five hours at the center) pretty much every bill had mistakes. Then after a few months a collection agency will try to collect for something that never got billed and never has happened. I can…
but you have to also take into account that a lot of people don't pay (charity care)
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#6I know this will attract a lot of people who have suggestions for healthcare. Let me add my big one: price transparency. I had a simple test the other day. I could not get a price. I could not get a price with my insurance, or without it. I called at least 9 times. I got 5 call backs from people who asked me to schedule the procedure but no price. On the 10th call, I finally got someone to tell me what the out-of-poc…
Totally agree. If people in the US want to have markets for health care there should be price transparency. When I had a high deductible plan I always tried to compare prices but you almost never get a straight answer.
If the Republicans want to reform health care that's where they should be starting.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#7To me hospitals are basically scam operations. My girlfriend has had several surgeries in the last two years. In addition to already outrageous standard prices ($40000 surgical center cost for a surgery where we spent in total five hours at the center) pretty much every bill had mistakes. Then after a few months a collection agency will try to collect for something that never got billed and never has happened. I can…
but you have to also take into account that a lot of people don't pay (charity care)
This doesn't justify billing mistakes.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#8I know this will attract a lot of people who have suggestions for healthcare. Let me add my big one: price transparency. I had a simple test the other day. I could not get a price. I could not get a price with my insurance, or without it. I called at least 9 times. I got 5 call backs from people who asked me to schedule the procedure but no price. On the 10th call, I finally got someone to tell me what the out-of-poc…
Health care is the only industry where you only find out how much something costs after you're already bought it.
Basic supply and demand theory depends on consumers having perfect information. A free market cannot work when a consumer has no information.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#9I know this will attract a lot of people who have suggestions for healthcare. Let me add my big one: price transparency. I had a simple test the other day. I could not get a price. I could not get a price with my insurance, or without it. I called at least 9 times. I got 5 call backs from people who asked me to schedule the procedure but no price. On the 10th call, I finally got someone to tell me what the out-of-poc…
Totally agree. If people in the US want to have markets for health care there should be price transparency. When I had a high deductible plan I always tried to compare prices but you almost never get a straight answer. If the Republicans want to reform health care that's where they should be starting.
> If the Republicans want to reform health care that's where they should be starting.
They don't.
Re: U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
#10Healthcare will always be overpriced so long as we allow this guild system to limit the supply of doctors for its own member's profit. Everything else is window dressing.
Guild systems do not inevitably resort to overbilling. They may resort to being overpriced but not to overbilling or lack of transparency in billing. I've not heard of doctor salaries being the reason for the U.S. spending far more per capita than other nations. It definitely contributes to this but my impression is that it is a very small part of this. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
Note that the same guild system is in force in just about every other country.