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Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

latimes.com

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Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#141

Post by ocdtrekkie »

sjg007 wrote: post #81
rwcemergency wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got an emergency room bill. I had a severe sore throat and fever for 2 weeks, step tests came back negative. Then at night my back side started hurting so I went to the ER. I paid $850 at the ER and today I received another bill for $850. The only thing on the Bill just says > "Charges": $11,680 > "Adjustmnets: $9,980 I just got off the phone with them and they say that it will take 10 business days to receive…

Federal law means your insurance has to pay for emergency room care. They do like to try to weasel out of it by saying you actually have a true emergency though. You can push back and get your state insurance regulator involved.

Isn't this why the costs are so outrageous? The guaranteed insurance coverage means hospitals know they can charge whatever they want. This is why I'm not psyched about single payer healthcare solutions: It's not solving the problem, and may just mean huge government waste.

It'd be far more effective to aggressively regulate hospital billing, wouldn't it?

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#142

Post by caconym_ »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #116
alexanderdmitri wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our first born came with a $42k bill. Hospital and doctor said we were covered by our insurance pre-auth, but come bill time apparently pre-auth was null and void b/c it was requisite on a negotiation that fell through. Each side had a different story and their representatives acted absolutely helpless. We were broke at the time we found out about the pregnancy and memories of the first two years of my boy's life are…

Why aren’t US citizens queuing up to emigrate? At this stage, it seems like the US is the “land of the free”, whereby “freedom” is defined as the ability to freely exploit everyone.

Seriously thinking about it.

I am also a British citizen, so I'm at least waiting to see how this whole Brexit thing shakes out.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#143

Post by jorblumesea »

oppositelock wrote: post #86
brink wrote: post #4

I just got an itemized bill today for a minor fall I took a couple months back.. On top of the nearly $6k in other charges from the hospital, they charged $531 for one dab of superglue or "liquid stitches" on my forehead for something that would have healed by itself. One of my friends died two years ago from pneumonia. He didn't go to the hospital when symptoms first started because he was afraid of the bills that w…

I went to the ER with chest pains seeming like a heart attack. They did an EKG, determined it wasn't a heart attack, then a blood test, which determined it was low potassium, and did a chest x-ray just in case. I received a saline IV and potassium pills as treatment, and went home after a couple of hours. The bill was about $18,000 for this. The insurance negotiated rate was about $1,500, of which I had to pay about…

> These people are all acting in violation of tons of existing laws - I don't understand why this isn't prosecuted.

$$$$$$.

The Medical system is being used to transfer wealth from the working and middle classes to the capital class under the guise of "free market". That money is being used to shape legislation, buy politicians, influence elections and kill threats to the system, allowing for even greater wealth transfer.

The rigged markets of socialist Europe are far more transparent, fairer and free, whereas our "free market" is opaque, completely unfair, totally impossible to understand and offers very little in terms of real free market choice. Yet we are brainwashed to think that our system is superior, due to the propaganda the industry pumps out.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#144

Post by AnimalMuppet »

Retric wrote: post #136
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that it's a common misconception, would you supply some evidence for your position?

Hospitals receive extra payments when they have an unusual number of Medicare patients. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/finance/dsh/index.html It’s just another case where the government splits spending across multiple programs.

I didn't know that program existed. Still, I don't see that the existence of the program adds up to your assertion:

> Hospitals with above average Medicare patients generally get paid more than the general population.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#146

Post by mancerayder »

brink wrote: post #4

I just got an itemized bill today for a minor fall I took a couple months back.. On top of the nearly $6k in other charges from the hospital, they charged $531 for one dab of superglue or "liquid stitches" on my forehead for something that would have healed by itself. One of my friends died two years ago from pneumonia. He didn't go to the hospital when symptoms first started because he was afraid of the bills that w…

Bill to you or your insurance?

I'm less concerned if they're scamming the insurance (although I'm existentially and politically interested) than billing of individuals.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#148

Post by thayne »

I don't understand the arguments that private health care is better because of competition. What competition? I can't comparison shop for health insurance, if I don't use what my employer chooses I have to pay thousands of dollars more in premiums for an even worse plan. And then I am limited in the providers available by the network. Not to mention that comparing prices is impossible when you don't know the price until months after you receive the service.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#149

Post by mattmcknight »

wil421 wrote: post #38
x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure open pricing would help seeing as how the average person doesn't have much knowledge to defend themselves against gouging. And when I've got a gash on my head, I'm not going to call around for prices and special discounts.

Another commenter said they asked the hospital and they just bill 8x the Medicare rate. Price transparency should help equalize the market. Right now it’s very much a smoke and mirrors pricing scheme.

What we should do is declare that you can't charge any patient more than you charge Medicare. Single pricer.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#150

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

caconym_ wrote: post #142
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why aren’t US citizens queuing up to emigrate? At this stage, it seems like the US is the “land of the free”, whereby “freedom” is defined as the ability to freely exploit everyone.

Seriously thinking about it. I am also a British citizen, so I'm at least waiting to see how this whole Brexit thing shakes out.

Australia has the largest British ex pat population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_diaspora#Institute_for...
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