Insured price $2,758, cash price $521 • Hacker News Board

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

#281

Post by dragonwriter » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:06 AM UTC

cylinder wrote: post #270

dragonwriter wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I took my 4 year old to the ER because he had a 103 fever. Alone, a fever under 104°F that isn't for an extended duration isn't something you should take an otherwise healthy four-year-old to the ER for. If you go to an ER for a non-emergency, you are definitely going to overpay for what you get, by an even wider margin than you usually overpay because of the need for those customers that pay to subsidize the costs…

Your answer is insane and shocking.

Here's the AAP recommendation on fever: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/condit...

A 103°F fever (again, on its own) in your kid as a parent is scary, yes—I’ve been through it with two kids under four in the past week. It's not an emergency, though, and the ER isn't the right place to deal with it. Not only isn't it cost effective, but because the ER mandate is emergency stabilization which a kid in that condition doesn't need it's not plain effective (not even in most of the cases with that degree of fever where medical attention is called for: not only do you pay far more than you will for a primary care visit, you don't get the diagnostic attention you'd get from a proxy care visit.)

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

#282

Post by lallysingh » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:08 AM UTC

hakfoo wrote: post #244

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…

We see a lot of people trying to justify medical salaries due to the cost of education and malpractice insurance, but an integrated program could work around that. We should treat it like the infantry. If you want to drive a tank and blow up people, you don't apply to a college and get a Doctorate in Blowing People Up. You don't buy insurance to cover if you blow up the wrong people. You join the army. I'd like to se…

Would that end up also being single payer?

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

#283

Post by cjlars » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:19 AM UTC

nonbel wrote: post #206

crazygringo wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Then they are just quoting you the "insurance price". Think about it, how could it possibly be more expensive to cut out the middle man?

Well individuals have less negotiating leverage than groups, so that could account for the price difference.

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

#284

Post by FireBeyond » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:43 AM UTC

en4bz wrote: post #19

astrodust wrote: post #8

Wouldn't it be nice to have an ultrasound and not know the price, nor care? That's what countries with single-payer are like. America needs to give up on this nonsense. There should be riots.

Except you often have to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues. In the US you can get imaging done same or next day.

I had injured ligaments and tendons in my dominant wrist after an airbag went off during a car accident. Splinting in the ER, sure. "Follow up with a Physical Therapist, get that started."

... "We can book you in in 10-12 weeks."

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

#285

Post by ascorbic » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:48 AM UTC

hakfoo wrote: post #244

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…

We see a lot of people trying to justify medical salaries due to the cost of education and malpractice insurance, but an integrated program could work around that. We should treat it like the infantry. If you want to drive a tank and blow up people, you don't apply to a college and get a Doctorate in Blowing People Up. You don't buy insurance to cover if you blow up the wrong people. You join the army. I'd like to se…

So, basically the NHS?

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/career-planning/study-and-t...

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/contracts/nhs-medic...

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

#286

Post by dpq » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:49 AM UTC

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #275

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…

I once went to an emergency room near Philadelphia -- Bryn Mawr -- and I was there for tops 2 hours. They didn't do anything fancy, beside an EKG (if you can even call that fancy). They sent me a bill for $15k. Luckily insurance covered 80% of it... But still! It basically maxed out my out-of-pocket for the year. And for what? An EKG -- at the time -- cost, on average, less than $100... I remember calling the billing…

So basically it would be cheaper to fly to Canada (/Europe/Russia/where er) for $500 roundtrip and get an EKG for $100 there. You know something's weird when this is what a better solution looks like.

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

#287

Post by irrational » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:49 AM UTC

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…

Same here. My child got a bean stuck in his nose. The doctor walked in, used a tool to pull it out and walked out. We spent less than 2 minutes with the doctor. The "procedure" maybe lasted 10 seconds. We got a bill for nearly $1000. It was listed as surgery!

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

#288

Post by irrational » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:54 AM UTC

hakfoo wrote: post #244

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…

We see a lot of people trying to justify medical salaries due to the cost of education and malpractice insurance, but an integrated program could work around that. We should treat it like the infantry. If you want to drive a tank and blow up people, you don't apply to a college and get a Doctorate in Blowing People Up. You don't buy insurance to cover if you blow up the wrong people. You join the army. I'd like to se…

There would need to be other changes. Right now many doctors work insane hours. My dad is a doctor who we rarely saw growing up. Now in in his 70s he has retired to live near a native american reservation where he works at the clinic. He puts in 60+ hours a week and claims that that is retirement for a doctor. I imagine that young doctors not making the big bucks would not be willing to work themselves to death like the current ones do.

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

#289

Post by axaxs » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:54 AM UTC

en4bz wrote: post #19

astrodust wrote: post #8

Wouldn't it be nice to have an ultrasound and not know the price, nor care? That's what countries with single-payer are like. America needs to give up on this nonsense. There should be riots.

Except you often have to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues. In the US you can get imaging done same or next day.

Give it up, dude. I lived in a top 20 city, with great insurance. Any specialist visit was at least 3 weeks out. GP 2 weeks, 1 if I settled for a nurse practitioner. Our health care sucks, and there is no defending it.

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

#290

Post by axaxs » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:58 AM UTC

I write this very candidly, and many on HN would likely constantly argue if I always chimed in with my personal views. I am a very conservative person, and always have been. That said, I will vote for anyone who promises single payer healthcare. Our healthcare is completely broken, and I feel honestly that anyone defending it is either being paid or brainwashed.