this disclosure was spurned by recent federal legislation that required it. Im a full cynic on the disclosure, so be warned.
- these prices, as negotiated between insurers and providers, were already well known inside the industry. so much so that many procedures could be declined coverage well in advance of a customer ever needing one. this insider knowledge formed the core of many earnings reports for insurers and hospitals alike,
- Disclosure is meaningless if the customer has no alternative. most health services that bankrupt are emergency medicine, and as such youll pay anything to save your own life. thrusting a stack of price sheets at a faceless national healthcare monopoly and demanding a fair price is a laughable if not sad idea. Healthcare is not something capitalism is equipped to competently support.
- hospitals have zero incentive to work with you on any price for any service, and no federal state or local law will compel them to do so by virtue of a combination of bureaucratic deadlock and regulatory capture. is it, for them, more profitable to sell your arbitrary debt to a credit collection agency? shove you into a debt counseling service they get kickbacks from? work a long and grueling payment plan through their own financial services division to bolster quarterly profit long-term in a recession? or just ignore your pleas entirely? what they charge is not up for debate by you.