31–40 of 311 posts
I guess the question becomes this - is there so much fraud in this industry that we need to do this change?
Even if it's NOT fraud, have hospitals simply become used to charging anything they want because they have no competition?
This is one thing Trump is doing that should get broad support. It probably won’t though, because some people are physically incapable of agreeing with him.
I honestly didn't even know this was in the works. It's amazing how much effort is put towards blocking out any positive news about this administration.
I spent 45 minutes at the hospital where I was to get a lab test done, trying to get a quote for said test. Prescribing doctor didn't know the cost. Lab tech didn't know. Billing department told me I needed a procedure code. Lab tech who was ready to draw blood couldn't tell me the needed code even after spending five minutes at a computer looking for it. Prescribing doctor gave me the code. Called back billing. They…
> Fifth, nobody you interact with at the hospital at the time of your visit has any idea how much anything costs. Part of that is the whole price transparency thing. Those who know the price don't want the front line workers to know it. Part of it is the fact that there are so many moving parts. Medicine gets inappropriately compared to aviation a lot, but it really isn't a fair comparison. Every one getting on a flight is basically getting the same thing. Medicine is like an airline flight where every row has its own flight attendant, every one on the plane is going somewhere different, and they all get a different movie and meal hand delivered to them. Imagine how much that flight would cost? Finally, despite the fact that there are hundreds of different products and services being sold, everybody pays a different price for them. This is due to dozens of different insurance plans each of which has negotiated a different price for every product and service, co-insurance plans, government plans, and various different levels of deductibles and co-insurance and different amounts of previously consumed care already in the year.
(The full post is worth reading.)
I don't think anyone who has had to pay hospital bills would agree with the hospital lobby's decision to fight this. The article's title makes it give the impression this is okay because, orange man bad, however regardless of the party pushing for transparency it is something everyone would benefit from (other than the heal care industry/insurance company's profits).
I don't think anyone who has had to pay hospital bills would agree with the hospital lobby's decision to fight this. The article's title makes it give the impression this is okay because, orange man bad, however regardless of the party pushing for transparency it is something everyone would benefit from (other than the heal care industry/insurance company's profits).
To be clear, I think in virtually all respects orange man indeed is very bad. This headline suggested to me that orange man may actually be attempting something worthwhile.
Here in Canada, there is no price transparency whatsoever. Just when people are facing the stress and uncertainty of fighting a crisis like Cancer, they are given absolutely no inkling what their treatment will cost. When a physician makes an appointment for you with a plastic surgeon to discuss reconstructive surgery... No transparency about the cost. When they prescribe chemotherapy... No transparency about what th…
There are shades of bad. The US health care system with price transparency is better than the US health care system without it. The same procedure can cost 1,000x more if you go across town. It's been long reported that Hospitals mostly pull prices out of their asses. The health care problem in the US is not just a health insurance problem, it is also a health care provider problem. Even if you had a single payer sys…
Again, with the XY problem...
If someone asks for X, but really needs Y and there is a better way to get Y than to help them with X... Of course X is better than no X and no Y.
But that doesn't change the fact that Y is much, much better than X. And in the case of health care, it is not even close. Price transparency may lead to each person paying a little less, or at least being less stressed, but it still won't fix the fact that America has the most expensive system, with the worst outcomes, in the developed world.
So yeah, X is better than --X, and ++X even better than X, but that doesn't change the fact that Y is still the correct solution when you focus on the problem you really want to solve rather than making the incorrect solution slightly less incorrect.
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Also, IANAE, but I do not believe that in Canada, hospitals are permitted to have a 1000x variance in pricing. I think that for those things we socialize, the government sets the price.
This is one thing Trump is doing that should get broad support. It probably won’t though, because some people are physically incapable of agreeing with him.
I don't think anyone who has had to pay hospital bills would agree with the hospital lobby's decision to fight this. The article's title makes it give the impression this is okay because, orange man bad, however regardless of the party pushing for transparency it is something everyone would benefit from (other than the heal care industry/insurance company's profits).
This is IMO the "simple solution" to healthcare - nothing will bring down healthcare costs faster than the following - be allowed to choose - know how much something costs - pay some of the cost themselves (co-pay, health savings account) etc.
- Allow competition. Don't give hospitals the power to veto new hospitals in their area.
- Disallow regional consolidation of hospital systems and medical practices. Regional monopolies are bad.
- Increase resident slots and supply of doctors. Make foreign degrees easier to transfer to the US.
- Outright ban pharmaceutical advertising. Nothing whatsoever of importance would be lost and all the pharma companies would save millions every year.
I spent 45 minutes at the hospital where I was to get a lab test done, trying to get a quote for said test. Prescribing doctor didn't know the cost. Lab tech didn't know. Billing department told me I needed a procedure code. Lab tech who was ready to draw blood couldn't tell me the needed code even after spending five minutes at a computer looking for it. Prescribing doctor gave me the code. Called back billing. They…
If they told you the real price in person, especially before you finished the procedure - they would fear you cancelling before the work is done.