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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

#251

Post by 0x8BADF00D »

journalctl wrote: post #214
djsumdog wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance companies negotiate a lot of this stuff away. The poster needs to call them first, see if they can arrange a $5 payment without addition interest while the itemized bill comes in (honestly, there is legal ground here for not even being willing to honor any of the bill with itemization). Get on the phone, try to keep cool, but realize you're probably going to yell at some poor customer service rep at some po…

The trouble is that in an emergency or urgent situation, you can’t really shop around for service. “I’m having a heart attack, but can we try the hospital in the next town over? Their cardiologist is cheaper.” Bike service is a leisurely afternoon; emergency medical care is not. It shouldn’t cost that much in the first place. You shouldn’t need to shop around for health care, and you shouldn’t be bankrupted by an eme…

> Why people aren’t marching through the streets right now is beyond me.

You answered your own question. They’re too fat, lazy, and sick to get up and walk 5 feet, let alone march in the street.

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

#252

Post by Ididntdothis »

code_sloth wrote: post #242
Ididntdothis wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“People rationalize it by saying that voting for a 3rd party is "wasting" their vote,” I guess I am stubborn but I will never vote for one of the two big parties. However it would be great if smaller parties got some kind of representation in Congress. It seems ridiculous that in the 90s Ross Perot got 20% of the vote but that resulted in zero representation.

There's an ideal world we want (that might never happen) and there's the real world. We live in the latter. Voting for the 3rd party is effectively voting one of the big 2. Also, I find it curious that while our community has generally settled on "incremental improvement" approach, we expect different from our governments and want the "big bang" changes. Then we are surprised when things get worse.

“We live in the latter. Voting for the 3rd party is effectively voting one of the big 2.”

It’s not. It sends a signal that there is a desire for something else.

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

#253

Post by dmitrygr »

jellicle wrote: post #206
danenania wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly support the Warren/Sanders universal healthcare plan, but in terms of optics, I don't actually see what the point is to making “duplicate coverage” private insurance illegal. It invites FUD and provides a convenient bogeyman while being entirely irrelevant in practical terms. If the government is providing comprehensive free healthcare to all, why would anyone need duplicate private health insurance? There…

The reason is so that there aren't "boutique" private practices. Keeping the rich people in the same boat as the poor people is actually quite important for the long-term health and welfare of the system. Members of the Canadian parliament have the same healthcare system as anyone else. Thus they aren't terribly tempted to cut it. If private insurance was allowed (in Canada), the elite would have expensive plans that…

So how do you justify to your family that you are voting for someone who will reduce availability of very specialized treatment for them (those boutique doctors), so some random people you've never heard of can have better care "on average"?

Becuase that's where I get stuck.

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

#254

Post by foobarbecue »

throwaway1777 wrote: post #7
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…

Pretty sure if you go through the effort to challenge such charges you can get them changed. https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18261698/how-to-fight-expensiv...

That lawyer's name is Sue Null!?!?

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

#255

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

sangd wrote: post #124

It's not the hospital alone. I went to my Kaiser optometry for my wife's glasses yesterday, and they said it would cost $375 for her pair. Her insurance would cover $175 + $100 discount, and the rest she has to pay. She has a Platinum coverage with Kaiser. We went home and she ordered 5 pairs online for $50. The anti-reflective coating cost $90 at Kaiser, but only $6 online. Fortunately, I don't wear glasses.

Apologies for being a little off-topic, but what online vendors did you use? Asking because I have the very same issue in New England.

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

#256

Post by Gibbon1 »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #225
dantheman wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People can think our system is awful and still not want the European one.

There is no single European one. There is a whole range of systems that are very different.

A lot of systems will work when the people involved are acting in good faith. And that is what's missing from the US system. US corporations and government have been captured by looters.

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

#258

Post by alluro2 »

Writing this from basically a 3rd world country, Serbia, which you might have heard of in context of a series of armed conflicts, civil wars and highly corrupt governments (current one being orders of magnitude worse)...Even after all that, and civil infrastructure and industry having been bombed back 50 years into the past (by NATO), we still have free high quality education and free healthcare...Those are simply the basic functions of a society - a lot can not function and be in a bad shape, but if you don't have these - what do you have from a government? How the US managed to get it perverted to this extent, is beyond me...

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

#259

Post by specialist »

dantheman wrote: post #190
jorblumesea wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 tran…

People can think our system is awful and still not want the European one.

What system do you want?

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

#260

Post by PorterDuff »

RandomBacon wrote: post #98
janesvilleseo wrote: post #82

I’m sure going to get downvoted for this but.... I just don’t pay my medical bills I pay my dentist and eye doctor bills since those are different. But I just let my insurance pay their part and I walk away from the rest. I haven’t had anything catastrophic yet. But have and do have bills in the 1,000s. My credit score is great in the 740+ range. I know big stuff they could take me to court or put a lien on my proper…

Do you go to a different dentist and eye doctor each time? Also, if you had to go to an emergency room, would you give them fake personal info so they can't send you bills?

Say, that's an interesting idea.

Develop a good-quality fake identity purely for skipping on medical bills.

Just to add an alternative that I've considered (now being a kind of programmer emeritus) is to go into a full-tilt asset hiding mode. There's just too many ways to lose your hoard of cash.

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