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Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

bestmedicareprice.com

111–120 of 229 posts

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#111

A couple of points: There are far fewer procedures / pathologies here than are out there. At least sort the procedures / pathologies lexicographically. It would be even better if I could NLS search by the procedure.

And if you want to get really fancy, let a user search in layman's terms too (e.g. "sore throat", "mammogram", "MRI", etc.).

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#112
post #87
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing. I wasn't aware of Medicaid patients who had to pay those types of costs. I guess my question is, what if a Medicaid patient in IN was truly destitute? There must be some mechanism for patients who can't afford those types of costs.

ER visits. Seriously. An ER is required by law to treat anyone who comes in. If you really can't pay, go to the ER. Some argue this is why healthcare costs so much because ERs have to be paid for.

Moreover -- ER visits with fake names. I have no moral issues, completely nothing, 0, lying and stealing from the bastards that sell $300 for a bag of saline or $40 for a pill of aspirin. I don't care that nobody pays it, I don't care what complicated laws or accounting tricks are, if that is put on a bill and sent to a person who was just sick or injured, that is wrong. It is criminal. So if you are conscious and can get way with it (don't need prescription written out just want to get "stabilized"), give them a fake SSN, name, address and fuck them.

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#113

This is cute, but it is based on a flawed premise. There are not "prices" for medical procedures and even the providers don't know what they are going to charge. Anecdata: when my wife was pregnant I asked the hospital what are the basic charges for normal obstetric delivery, since we were paying out of pocket. I got a reply in writing that it was $20k, a suspiciously round number without itemization. The baby comes…

Dispute all of it and the bill will likely be way less than 20k. I had mallet finger once and I got a bill of thousands of dollars and charge for a broken finger, then a set, and multiple check up visits.

In reality I went to the doctor once, got an xray, he gave me a splint and said don't take it off for 8 weeks. I never went back for a second visit because it wasn't needed assuming I followed the treatment of did not bend my finger for 8 weeks. I called billing and asked for an explanation and the bill went from a couple thousand to a couple hundred.

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#114
post #102

This is cute, but it is based on a flawed premise. There are not "prices" for medical procedures and even the providers don't know what they are going to charge. Anecdata: when my wife was pregnant I asked the hospital what are the basic charges for normal obstetric delivery, since we were paying out of pocket. I got a reply in writing that it was $20k, a suspiciously round number without itemization. The baby comes…

WOW just wow. Would have been cheaper to fly first class to any other country in the world and get the baby there. It's really time for significant overhaul of the health care system here in the US

Yes, in France its about 100 to 200 euros.

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#115
post #61

You really should warn users to find the NEAREST hospital when they are having chest pain--which is one of the procedure selections. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a doctor.

Then they save your life. A week later, you receive the bill and the resulting heart attack kills you.

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#116
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I ask why you're spending thousands of dollars on Rx and care? From what I've gathered Medicaid patients have co-pays of $3-$5 on drugs and very small office visit co-pays. I'm not questioning your story, just genuinely curious what the extra costs are.

Not a problem My mother is covered by Indiana's medicaid program, as she's at the poverty level but not old enough yet to qualify for Medicare. Her prescription buydown/deductible every month is $550, which I pay for. If you don't mind, I don't want to list specific medications, as it might make it easier to determine her identity. She takes medication for bone mineralization, hormone replacement due to a heart condi…

Ok, I think I understand now. I'm guessing your Mom is slightly above the poverty line?

* For people with incomes above 150% FPL, copayments for non-preferred drugs may be as high as 20 percent of the cost of the drug. For people with income at or below 150% FPL, copayments are limited to nominal amounts.[1] *

[1]http://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/By...

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#117
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ER visits. Seriously. An ER is required by law to treat anyone who comes in. If you really can't pay, go to the ER. Some argue this is why healthcare costs so much because ERs have to be paid for.

No. This is wrong, yet people keep citing this. EMTALA [0] requires the hospital to stabilize the patient, ie, make it so that it is no longer an emergency (the "E" in "ER"). If you "really can't pay" and it's not an emergency, you likely will find yourself in collections from the hospital. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and...

I think it really depends on the hospital. Some hospitals that are in major urban centers and provide services for a large indigent population often waive all expenses.

If you go into one of these hospitals looking like you have no money, you'll likely not be asked to pay anything.

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#118
post #114
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WOW just wow. Would have been cheaper to fly first class to any other country in the world and get the baby there. It's really time for significant overhaul of the health care system here in the US

Yes, in France its about 100 to 200 euros.

That's the total cost to the French medical system for a normal delivery? I find that hard to believe. In Canada that rate is a couple thousand dollars.

Or is that what the patient has to pay?

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#119

This is cute, but it is based on a flawed premise. There are not "prices" for medical procedures and even the providers don't know what they are going to charge. Anecdata: when my wife was pregnant I asked the hospital what are the basic charges for normal obstetric delivery, since we were paying out of pocket. I got a reply in writing that it was $20k, a suspiciously round number without itemization. The baby comes…

Wow. The average reimbursement for a non-complicated birth in most US hospitals is around $3-5K.

You are correct though, the reason why hospitals do this is because the system is entirely setup to support this kind of behavior.

Re: Show HN: I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles

#120
post #99

Assuming this data is from the Medicare (insurance program for those >65) dataset released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services earlier this year ( http://go.cms.gov/1bowKJA ) I have a couple of points to make: 1.) Not sure if you grabbed "charges" or "payments", but "charges" are what the providers (hospitals) billed to Medicare, and "payments" are what Medicare actually paid the providers. "Payments" w…

Nice! Me and my friend made this app back in a few weeks ago, and here is the link. http://pricemaps.betterdoctor.com/#/ 1. We used the 'Average Payment' for the actual number shown on the site. 2. Even though it's irrelevant, but it actually goes back to you by your co-pay and other expenses to you. Not 100% sure though. The point in our app is that, we want to compare the price vs quality in the US top hospitals. T…

"My friends and I" not "me and my friends"

Yes, call me a Grammar Nazi Troll, but I see a shocking amount of this most fundamental error all over forums where otherwise intelligent, educated people discuss things.

You sound ignorant when you make the same mistakes as my 12-yo daughter. I can tell you make it because you are typing as you speak, which means you are in public, in meetings, and some day in presentations using bad English.

People will judge you by how you speak. I'm not being a troll, I'm helping you have a better future.

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