The True Cost of Healthcare in the US

After visiting the ER with a 108F temp due to pneumonia, I can attest to the fact that ER visits are a rip off. 3 unique doctor visits to the room + 1 IV + phlegm sample + 1 $60 pill + 1 prescription = $4200 for 50 minutes of office and 120 minutes of wait. Afterwards, I explained I did not have insurance. $60 pill was wrote off instantly. $4200 turned into $1200. Govt reimbursed 3/4ths of the bill instantly to the hospital. $1200 got wrote off after 3 months because it was not worth collecting...

Edit: The interesting thing was each doctor had an individual bill of $600 sent to me. These are still in collections. The phlegm sample cost $120 and come from a separate clinical laboratories bill.

My wife's birth control has a package value of $130/mo. Health insurance ($600 for wife, and kid), had a copay of $40 for this medication. I called the same clinic, requested generic and expressed my need to pay in cash. Instantly brought the price down to $8/mo.

I did not sign up for health insurance this year. It is a complete waste. I usually pay more than just asking for generic and paying with cash. The 'poor' clinics here have a higher quality of care and staff, and are more affordable than my co-pays.

If necessary, I will pay the penalty. I assume the credit for health care costs and taxes charged on health care should make up for any penalties incurred by the PPACA. If I read correctly, my penalty should only be $950-1300. Inevitably, with my insurance rates, I would spend that on 2 months of health coverage for my small family.

Just to break down costs: $600/mo health for wife/kid. $7200/yr. vs ~200/mo + 1000 penalty. $3400/yr.

We're not exactly getting Xrays and CT scans on a daily basis in my household! If my wife was to get pregnant, I know most hospitals offer a specialized bundle plan for dealing with the pregnancy for a set flat rate. All check ups, ultrasounds, single doctor, etc, for $6000.

> My wife's birth control has a package value of $130/mo.

Wow. My girlfriend's birth control is $9/month, without health insurance (Target's generic Ortho Tri-Cyclen).

I'm not in the USA, but 'only $950-1300'? That's more or less what I pay for a whole year of health insurance in the NL. How much does insurance cost in the USA?

We invited a dozen physicians for brunch this past weekend and they all had stories to share about how little they make per procedure compared to the amount the hospital makes.

Example 1: A procedure costs $6,000 to be done at a hospital. It prices out patients paying out of pocket. The doctor realized that he himself gets about $700 from it. So the doctor reached out to another facility who agreed to do it for $1,800 instead of $6,000 for the exact same procedure. You can imagine how happy the doctor's patients are, particularly ones paying out of pocket.

Example 2: A patient got upset a doctor's office wanted him to pay copay. The patient got the bill and felt the doctor already got paid $1,500. When the office informed the patient that out of the $1,500 the doctor only got about $300, the patient was shocked.

Really what we need is a doctor compensation to everything else index. When we get that, we will realize the sham most of the efforts to reduce healthcare cost is. Most healthcare cost efforts focus on paying the doctor a little less, say $300 instead of $400. Problem is, bulk of the cost is not the doctor's fees. It is the cost of the bed, breakfast, Tylenol etc. We need regulation on those fees.