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Any source, example, etc.? Your comment reads like one of those click-bait advertisements.
UPMC. It's both an insurance company, and a chain of hospitals. And Dr.'s offices, and well, pretty much everything. Not sure which came first though, hospital or insurance company.
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Good Lord, people truly just don't get it. Hospitals are not evil; they are tasked with saving people's lives. People who nobody else can save. All the worst medical problems in the world--sometimes sudden trauma, sometimes a festering problem left to burst--they all end up on the doorstep of the hospitals, full of doctors, nurses, and technicians who are humans just like you and me. And they work ridiculous hours sa…
All you are saying is correct but you can't excuse their billing practices.
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All you are saying is correct but you can't excuse their billing practices.
Blaming one specific part of a profit-centric health care system for being profit-centric seems a little silly
Let's say they succeed in launching a new generics company. Ten years down the line they will divest in order to build each hospital a shiny new geriatrics wing. Within six months the spun-off drug company will jack up prices and the cycle will continue.
Let's say they succeed in launching a new generics company. Ten years down the line they will divest in order to build each hospital a shiny new geriatrics wing. Within six months the spun-off drug company will jack up prices and the cycle will continue.
From that perspective, does any country have their own publicly owned pharmaceutical manufacturer? It's the kind of thing the NHS should do, since they control most other aspects of health care, but I don't think they do. There's so little benefit to competition with generics, you may as well have that vertical integration to at least provide what hospitals need.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good Lord, people truly just don't get it. Hospitals are not evil; they are tasked with saving people's lives. People who nobody else can save. All the worst medical problems in the world--sometimes sudden trauma, sometimes a festering problem left to burst--they all end up on the doorstep of the hospitals, full of doctors, nurses, and technicians who are humans just like you and me. And they work ridiculous hours sa…
All you are saying is correct but you can't excuse their billing practices.
It's a big mess and I don't see billing practices improving significantly until the reimbursement system changes. Single payer could really simplify things for the end user.
I am not sure if patients will see any of the savings though. I view hospitals as fundamentally dishonest organizations after a few experiences. Their medical treatment is fine but their financial practices are borderline fraudulent.
62% of bankruptcies in the US are caused by medical debt.
The only saving grace in this all is that you can save enough for retirement in creditor-protected retirement accounts, and can otherwise secure yourself financially while telling your creditors to pound sand if they're being ridiculous.
I am not sure if patients will see any of the savings though. I view hospitals as fundamentally dishonest organizations after a few experiences. Their medical treatment is fine but their financial practices are borderline fraudulent.
Some, if not most, of this is a result of the insurance system. The insurance companies only pay x% of any given item, therefore the hospitals have to jack prices through the roof to collect enough to survive. The problem with our healthcare system is that too much money goes to drug companies, medical device makers, and insurance companies and not enough makes it to the people actually providing the care. Its a bit…
Erm no, actually you pay a lot more for pure hospital services all things considered than whatever is paid for the price of drugs. I totally agree that drugs should be cheaper for patients, but pretending drug manufacturers are the only/main problem is just far from the reality of the market. Every intermediate is inflating their prices as well.
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Any source, example, etc.? Your comment reads like one of those click-bait advertisements.
It's really not click bait. Kaiser Permanente already operates under that model with a single organization acting as an insurer and owning hospitals. Other payers are moving in the same direction by acquiring or creating provider organizations. In some markets all of the major providers have merged together in order to gain more negotiating power so the only way payers can get some leverage back is by having provider…
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If Medicare rates are actually below cogs, why do hospitals accept Medicare patients? I know some don't, but the vast majority do. Something about that explanation feels off.
If you serve a certain rate of medicare patients, you get additional funding. It's set up this way for 'political' reasons. Like most of us politics, it's a mess.
That's not an incentive for hospitals to serve Medicare patients; it's compensation for the fact that the hospital sees so many Medicare patients (and therefore so few privately-insured patients, by portion) that it can't make up the difference solely from overcharging private insurers.