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Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

latimes.com

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Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#181

Post by vkou »

rayiner wrote: post #149
evrydayhustling wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That forum is amazing! Thanks for the primary source! That said, two quibbles/questions: Those same threads have logins like "indebt4life" and "kids2feed", which matches what I've heard from doctor friends: the length and cost of medical training and insurance are so brutal that the folks gatekeeping are themselves in an unhealthy lifestyle and don't want it to get worse. In other words, and benefits of gatekeeping a…

US drug spending accounts for about 11% of total healthcare spending.

When you get a $700 for two pills of ibuprofen, and five minutes of a doctor's time, what percentage of that bill was the ibuprofen?

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#182

Post by bobharris »

I always got a kick out of the DO's in training at a WA DO school telling us they were all on WA medicaid, as they didn't have another option in which to obtain healthcare.

Huh, that's odd.

A friend who asked how much the retina re-attachement would cost. Weighing her options.

I'm just sad that healthcare seems like such a luxury.

I do enjoy stories of friends not just being complacent. Going out of country for dental procedures. Getting good results for 1/10 the price.

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#183

Post by Spooky23 »

function_seven wrote: post #174
Spooky23 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking, that’s an example of a fundamentally wasteful ER visit, and why the lack of universal coverage is so dumb. That’s why ERs cost a fortune. If you’re not bleeding, have a broken limb or other trauma or an expectation of being admitted, you don’t belong in the ER. Take a benadryl.

So why doesn't the triage nurse hand out the Benadryl, tell the patient to wait in the lobby for an hour, and see if that resolves it? They could charge $75 for the single pill, and still avoid using a bed or the services of additional staff.

That’s not how the process works for an ER. A doc in a box urgent care would essentially do that.

An ER handles everything from bee stings to shootings or strokes. They’re optimized to deal with those emergencies, not optimize cost for minor dings, especially when most of the minor issues are uninsured people who won’t pay anyway.

Emergency medicine is not a profit center, and is often mandated to exist. You’re paying for all of the lost receivables and capability.

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#184

Post by crazygringo »

nonbel wrote: post #102
crazygringo wrote: post #96

(American here.) Funny, my last several doctors visits the cash price has always been higher than the negotiated price. These are all for services in the $150-300 range, and I was told upfront what the cash price would be, but they couldn't tell me what my negotiated plan rate was. (I inquired because I have a high deductible plan so I'll pay in the end no matter what.) The negotiated prices were all at least 1/3 low…

> Funny, my last several doctors visits the cash price has always been higher than the negotiated price. There is nothing funny about it. Once you tell the provider that you have insurance, the price they can quote you is in their contract with the insurance company. You need to go somewhere new and tell them you do not have insurance to get the real price.

They didn't have to check that, and certainly didn't. They knew the prices off the top of their head.

The doctor had no idea what health plan I had or even if I had one -- they leave that up to their staff to sort out, they couldn't care less personally.

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#185

Post by 9HZZRfNlpR »

jimmaswell wrote: post #166
tandem_bike wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything you say is true. Modern healthcare is so expensive and inefficient because its built around the demands and capabilities of the past. Usually I hate it when people say something is fundamentally broken, but healthcare really is. The time has come for a complete overhaul of the system. No more primary care doctors. They can be replaced by software and patient service representatives. Diagnostic services sho…

Unlimited licensing could lead to everyone getting paid too low or unemployment. I've honestly wondered if compsci is goingto need caps. Everywhere is unreasonably picky about who will be considered even for an internship, because they can, because there are so many compsci grads. Getting my first job involved months of searching and horrible offers like 30k until I got lucky. This being with extensive volunteer expe…

I don't understand what would be the problem in that case, the market would find and set the price?

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#186

Post by IronWolve »

If you have to go to minor emergency clinics that are popping up all over, say you dont have insurance and want the cash price, its 1/4th the cost. If you pay with insurance and have a co-pay or a yearly deductible its just not worth it. Then pay with your HSA card.

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#187

Post by adrr »

legohead wrote: post #172
johnwheeler wrote: post #25

I took my 4 year old to the ER because he had a 103 fever. The doctor put an ear thermometer to him and told me to give him some childrens ibuprofen. The visit lasted all of 5 minutes. The cost: $756.00. I refused to pay it. It was the first time I did not pay a debt and the first time I was sent to collections. I refused based on principle, and not because I couldn’t afford it. Collections called me for about 3 mont…

We took our daughter to a children's hospital (CHOC, a pretty famous one), went through triage, and got put into a room. A nurse came in, asked questions, said the child needs to pee in a cup, and left. Two hours later, still nobody had checked on us, and no doctor. I had asked more than once for an update during this time to no avail. Also, we never even got the pee cup. So we left. They billed us (something around…

Never go to an er unless it is serious or you’ll have a long wait. I took my daughter to CHOC with a 106 fever and still waited two hours to see a doctor. I’d rather go to an urgent care because you can usually see a doctor in under 30 minutes and at fraction of the cost.

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#188

Post by [deleted] »

function_seven wrote: post #174
Spooky23 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking, that’s an example of a fundamentally wasteful ER visit, and why the lack of universal coverage is so dumb. That’s why ERs cost a fortune. If you’re not bleeding, have a broken limb or other trauma or an expectation of being admitted, you don’t belong in the ER. Take a benadryl.

So why doesn't the triage nurse hand out the Benadryl, tell the patient to wait in the lobby for an hour, and see if that resolves it? They could charge $75 for the single pill, and still avoid using a bed or the services of additional staff.

[deleted]

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#189

Post by rolltiide »

nonbel wrote: post #114
rolltiide wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

privileged people have the option of using pre-tax + employer funded FSA/HSA accounts, where a wide array of hygienic purchases, medical purchases and even copays can be paid for and further subsidized. These are part of your overall “insurance package”, in conversation this is typically called being insured with no regard to whether an insurance company is actually picking up the tab.

Wouldn't the "privileged" prefer to have actual money they could spend as they want instead of be forced to use it for a single purpose, including the extra cost of a middle man? It sounds like some sort of tax scam.

The pre-tax portion naturally comes out of the part of your paycheck you otherwise wouldn't be able to use at all.

The level of discount would therefore be linked to your marginal income tax level, alongside how much your employer contributes to it.

The max a person can contribute to these in 2019 is $3,500 and $7,000 for family.

It is a privilege extended by the federal government.

Re: Insured price $2,758, cash price $521

#190

Post by perspective1 »

avocado4 wrote: post #41
johnwheeler wrote: post #25

I took my 4 year old to the ER because he had a 103 fever. The doctor put an ear thermometer to him and told me to give him some childrens ibuprofen. The visit lasted all of 5 minutes. The cost: $756.00. I refused to pay it. It was the first time I did not pay a debt and the first time I was sent to collections. I refused based on principle, and not because I couldn’t afford it. Collections called me for about 3 mont…

https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/10/25/doctors-sal... Providers are the core problem. Various doctor associations (AMA et al) have strangled supply side of healthcare through State licensure and scope of practice laws. Just read medical forums to get an idea of what an average doctor thinks about competition in the form of midlevels: https://www.auntminnie.com/Forum/tm.aspx?m=581583 "Don’t teach your mid le…

Very few people would happily train someone to take their job. And, some of those people will be vocal about it. The midlevels do the same thing in reverse. It's a stretch to extrapolate this to all "providers" and call that the "core problem" of health expense. How much of your bill do you think goes to the "provider" anyway?.
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