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40k for four plastic tubes. Why on earth are medical supplies so fucking expensive?
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/08/27/6408918...
> UPDATE: Monday, shortly after publication and broadcast of this story by Kaiser Health News and NPR, St. David’s said it was now willing to accept $782.29 to resolve the $108,951 balance because Drew Calver qualifies for its “financial assistance discount.” Sounds all fine and dandy until you realize that these charges will just be made up for by people that aren't able to get NPR to publish a story about them.
> Sounds all fine and dandy until you realize that these charges will just be made up for by people that aren't able to get NPR to publish a story about them. No, St. David's has already fully recouped their costs and then some. They were simply trying to extract as much money as the stone could bleed.
Disclaimer: Universal healthcare advocate
Sounds just like St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, TX is run by crooks. I like the take-home message that "Faced with a surprise bill or a balance-billing situation, don’t rush to pay any medical bills you receive."
All this is a bit surreal (Canadian here), but it prompts the question: why won't people sue in a class action to refund money they gave to the insurance in the first place? I realize it's a complex subject, but at the end of the day, the insurance companies advertise and sell: insurance.
Well, it doesn't have to cost that much to take care of a heart attack. Remove the AMA from the equation and it'll clear up. The real problem is that we restrict the supply of doctors. Without that, competing hospitals can arise that will compete on price.
Use of ultrasound imaging to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the carotid arteries that supply blood to the brain. Increasing carotid artery intima-media thickness, or CIMT, indicates a build-up of fatty deposits, known as plaque, in crucial arteries to the heart and brain. Plaque build-up in the arteries, which is usually affects adults, can restrict the flow of blood, causing heart attacks or stroke.
Well, it doesn't have to cost that much to take care of a heart attack. Remove the AMA from the equation and it'll clear up. The real problem is that we restrict the supply of doctors. Without that, competing hospitals can arise that will compete on price.
That is why i laugh at republicans (Ben Shapiro et al) argument that healthcare competition is what making it the "best" in the world. Don't compare it with restaurant business.