The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills • Hacker News Board

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#151

Post by dv_dt » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:14 PM UTC

toss1 wrote: post #63

cortesoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not familiar with these alternate systems; how do they work?

E.g., Switzerland is private insurance, but having a policy is mandatory for everyone within 3 months of moving there or being born. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland This ensures that the system works better than the US system, as the hospitals do not need to deal with having to treat uninsured patients who cannot pay. This is a major problem for the US healthcare system, and a critical threat…

Switzerland also regulates drug prices... and has much tighter governmental oversight over their insurance industries. But is also the most costly by percent GDP of european nations... still much much cheaper than the US though.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#152

Post by mapster » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:14 PM UTC

pascalxus wrote: post #3

So, basically, if you visit any emergency room then your handing them a blank Check and they can write whatever number on there they want. That's egregious beyond belief. I'm never one to call for legislation and price controls, but in the face of such adversity, I think it may be our last hope. I think they should either provide a quote before they offer the services or there should be a law limiting the amount that…

sinks the whole 'the free market will self-police' fallacy. esp re: health and environment, finance, and worker safety, corporations need regulation, badly.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#153

Post by vladgur » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:14 PM UTC

This is no longer legal in some states, including California... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/surprise-no-more-balance...

Im curious how many supporters of GOP's free market rhetoric would support regulations around these practices once they are hit with a surprise bill like that

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#154

Post by dsfyu404ed » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:16 PM UTC

Devthrowaway80 wrote: post #122

mistermann wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Changing things so all taxpayers are getting robbed rather than just the individual being treated seems like a sub-optimal solution.

Yeah, it won't work. It works in every other developed nation in the world, and they all pay less money for better healthcare outcomes, but hey, the US is Totally Special.

Except that's not how it works everywhere else.

Everywhere else the government shoves a telephone pole up the ass of taxpayers and then takes a few splinters to pay for healthcare.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#155

Post by notadoc » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:17 PM UTC

Chardok wrote: post #139

notadoc wrote: post #118

What are the specific benefits to having an immensely expensive administrative bureaucracy lodged between the actual patient and actual health care provider? This should be easy to answer and explain.

Shifting costs from the hospitals and insurance to the patients, plain and simple. This is merely the tip of the iceberg for what for-profit healthcare is developing into. You cannot have sound medical decisions being made when money is so deeply intertwined in the process.

I would highly recommend every patient asks their doctor(s) about health insurance and their opinions of it. You will get an interesting earful.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#156

Post by Houshalter » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:17 PM UTC

rwmj wrote: post #4

Over here (in Europe) we get the impression that US has such a crazy healthcare system. Why aren't people marching in the streets? Is it not as crazy as it sounds for most users? If you're taken to ER how are you supposed to know if the doctors are all part of "your network" (whatever that even means)?

Because it didn't used to be like this. Healthcare in the US was 5 times cheaper in 1970. The cost has been ballooning up since then and no one can explain why or how to stop it.

We don't necessarily need socialized medicine. If we just went back to the way things were done in 1970 everything would be solved. The money the government currently spends on healthcare subsidies could buy free healthcare for everyone at 1970 prices.

Life expectancy was a bit shorter in 1970, but not by that much. And most of the increase is due to other factors than healthcare (e.g. the smoking rate has dropped a lot, cars are much safer, air pollution is reduced, etc.) And there have been studies done that show increased spending on health care doesn't really correlate with increased life expectancy.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#157

Post by sevensor » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:17 PM UTC

com2kid wrote: post #102

richthegeek wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately the NHS is, in many ways, pretty bad. They're pretty good at dealing with pregnancies, cancers, and emergencies but try getting seen for a chronic pain and you'll follow this rough timeline: - Try see your GP. Wait 2 weeks until your appointment. - GP will give a cursory examination and recommend a dietary change, taking ibuprofen/paracetamol, and to come back if problem persists. - Problem persists. Bo…

In contrast, to America working for a good employer: 1. Schedule with GP. Say I am in pain. Get in within 2 days. 2. Get a referral to Physical Therapy. Asked if I have any preference where to go. My doctor knows my network and gave me a number of choices that were within network (a number of which were within walking range of where I lived). 3. Call PT office. Schedule an appointment. They apologize that their next…

> In contrast, to America working for a good employer:

> 1. Schedule with GP. Say I am in pain. Get in within 2 days.

> 2. Get a referral to Physical Therapy. Asked if I have any preference where to go. My doctor knows my network and gave me a number > of choices that were within network (a number of which were within walking range of where I lived).

> 3. Call PT office. Schedule an appointment. They apologize that their next opening is a week away. Gladly accept.

> Physical Therapy is interesting in that it is semi-free market and rather competitive, so it tends to work a bit better than some > other scenarios.

Speaking from recent experience, on Obamacare:

1. Live with pain for 6 months because you know you're not getting out of a specialist's office for less than $750.

2. Cave in when the pain becomes unbearable and see a specialist.

3. Make an appointment for PT with a provider who doesn't take insurance at all, because the transparent pricing means no surprises.

4. Pay out of pocket for PT appointments.

5. Spend the next 4 months getting bills for your one specialist visit. Half of these are coded wrong so insurance won't pay. Spend 2h every week on the phone trying to get it sorted out.

If you talk to whoever does the specialist's billing at any point, you'll find that they're totally unable to estimate the cost of services. You might as well not even try to figure out how much it costs in advance.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#158

Post by AndrewKemendo » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

sixdimensional wrote: post #39

In a past life, I worked in health insurance fraud detection. Everybody should know, the health insurance system in the US is fundamentally broken and has been almost since its inception in the early 20th century. The lack of adequate consumer protection, transparency, health systems and appropriate government regulation, in addition to organizational oversight, has lead to a situation where we have poor systems that…

how big and complex the systems are now, how much money they represent, and how many interests are involved

I don't follow what you're saying. Are you proposing that the root of the problem is that it's a huge, expensive, complex industry, where a lot of people work?

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#159

Post by ugh123 » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:19 PM UTC

coreyp_1 wrote: post #22

I am having problems with my insurer at this very moment. I went to an in-network hospital for an ER visit, which turned into an 8-day stay (yes, it was serious). Evidently, none of the doctors at the hospital are in-network, however, (claims from various technicians are still "in processing", so I don't know how they will turn out) despite the fact that the hospital itself is definitely in-network. I had no choice a…

Wait it out until things settle (in processing, and until actual bills come in). I was in a similar situation and claimed this was news to me and inappropriate (others have said they have a window to notify you). Keep pestering them and they'll likely drop it.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#160

Post by icantdrive55 » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:19 PM UTC

sbov wrote: post #60

coreyp_1 wrote: post #22

I am having problems with my insurer at this very moment. I went to an in-network hospital for an ER visit, which turned into an 8-day stay (yes, it was serious). Evidently, none of the doctors at the hospital are in-network, however, (claims from various technicians are still "in processing", so I don't know how they will turn out) despite the fact that the hospital itself is definitely in-network. I had no choice a…

We had a similar experience about 8 months ago, but only one night in the hospital. Raise hell with everyone. The out of network doctors were resolved the fastest for us, and the longest was the hospital stay itself, which our insurance didn't agree to pay until 8 months after the stay. It was a seriously draining experience, and luckily my wife doesn't work so I didn't have to take time off for all the phone calls a…

Hospitals, doctors, and Insurance companies know exactly what's going on. They are paracites--plain, and simple. I won't get started on over billing at hospitals. It's been going on forever. Know-one stops them.

I don't buy for a minute they are just cogs in the machine. I really used to respect anyone in the industry. That respect is almost completely gone.

I am now furious thinking about our lovely medical system, along with the FDA.