181–190 of 231 posts
This happens only now ? In more civilized countries like Germany, prices for procedures have been set since time immorial. There is a provision for surcharges from the physician, but these aren't common, and the physician will have to have a good cause or the insurer will not pay it. Same thing for new medications: they are not permitted in the clinic unless there is a genuine advantage for the patient. All this is o…
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A couple of months ago, Time magazine (of all places) did a really good story about the lack of price transparency in healthcare and how that may well be the single largest contributor to the burgeoning healthcare costs in the US. I think it is behind a paywall, here is a starter though: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136867,00.... In a stunning example of competence and efficiency, the US governme…
Fellow high deductible plan-holder here. Have you run into the circumstance yet where a provider is under an exclusive contract w/ your insurer and, once the provider finds out who your insurer is, is obligated to refuse to allow you to pay cash? I've had this happen 3 times in the last year and it's driving me mad. The providers were unwilling to talk to me unless I divulged my insurer, and when I did they were then…
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This isn't true. They only have to provide emergency services, and they still charge for them, just not up front. If anyone did that, they would still receive bills in the mail and have derogatory information on their credit report. Otherwise, please tell me which hospital is giving away free service to the uninsured.
Exactly, these employees would take their children to the emergency room/urgent care. They weren't getting check-ups, but if the kid had a high fever, they would bring them in, get them seen by a doctor, then be on their way. When asked about billing they simply said "I don't have insurance". Many hospitals, including the DSH (disproportionate share hospitals) write these things off all the time. The hospital just do…
How is anyone inhumane enough to start a business like these hospitals? Any medical care should be available to everyone. Breaking a finger shouldn't cost $2805 either. Countries like USA think they're superiour but yet they do not help their fellow citizens. If they would drop the war on the rest of the world(incl their own) they would probably afford to provide free medical care as well.
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The supply of doctors is not restricted by the AMA. The supply of doctors is determined by the number of residency spots available to new graduates; that number is entirely determined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Thanks to the Balance Budget Act of 1997, Graduate Medical Education (GME) was dramatically slowed due to decreases in Medicare funding of residency positions. [1] As long as we require ph…
I wasn't referring to residency spots at accredited medical schools. I was referring to medical school accreditation itself.
The real reason why there are fewer doctors is that it simply doesn't make any economic sense to be a doctor anymore. You need too much school, at too high a price, and you push off any real earning potential 6-9 years away from your peers. If you specialize, you can add an extra 2-4 years on top of that. And you really don't make enough over the long run to justify the lost opportunity costs.
So yes, there is a shortage of doctors, but that isn't going to change anytime soon.
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The reason the cost of healthcare is so high is because medicare pays roughly 15% of a bill, others are somewhere between 20-50% of a bill depending. That is to say if the doctor charges you $40,000 you pay your 10% co-pay of $4,000 and the insurance then only pays maybe another $8,000. Another reason is the supply of doctors is artificially restricted by the AMA.
The supply of doctors is not restricted by the AMA. The supply of doctors is determined by the number of residency spots available to new graduates; that number is entirely determined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Thanks to the Balance Budget Act of 1997, Graduate Medical Education (GME) was dramatically slowed due to decreases in Medicare funding of residency positions. [1] As long as we require ph…
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Copying my comment below. The government not only allows healthcare providers to reveal their prices, it encourages it. The graf about the government is a political statement, not a policy fact, and does not belong in a news story. ----- Medicare/caid prices are standardized and public. They also release data on what specific hospitals bill for the most common procedures. http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-a…
I worked in a billing office for 5 years, there are literally thousands of codes for EACH insurance company, again EACH insurance company. The reason the cost of healthcare is so high is because medicare pays roughly 15% of a bill, others are somewhere between 20-50% of a bill depending. That is to say if the doctor charges you $40,000 you pay your 10% co-pay of $4,000 and the insurance then only pays maybe another $…
That help may explain extremly high nominal prices, but it doesn't explain the fact that the median price paid is also really high (The $12,000 in your example). Nor do cross subsides explain the high costs.
Both bottom up analysis looking at the amounts paid by various insurance companies for procedures and top down analysis of overall per capita health care spending reveal a system that is far, far more expensive than any other health care system in the world.
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I worked in a billing office for 5 years, there are literally thousands of codes for EACH insurance company, again EACH insurance company. The reason the cost of healthcare is so high is because medicare pays roughly 15% of a bill, others are somewhere between 20-50% of a bill depending. That is to say if the doctor charges you $40,000 you pay your 10% co-pay of $4,000 and the insurance then only pays maybe another $…
> The reason the cost of healthcare is so high is because medicare pays roughly 15% of a bill, others are somewhere between 20-50% of a bill depending. That is to say if the doctor charges you $40,000 you pay your 10% co-pay of $4,000 and the insurance then only pays maybe another $8,000. That help may explain extremly high nominal prices, but it doesn't explain the fact that the median price paid is also really high…
Its not so much a system as dozens of different systems with completely different premises and extraordinary complex interactions which have to deal with each other.
Which is why it is so expensive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reason the cost of healthcare is so high is because medicare pays roughly 15% of a bill, others are somewhere between 20-50% of a bill depending. That is to say if the doctor charges you $40,000 you pay your 10% co-pay of $4,000 and the insurance then only pays maybe another $8,000. Another reason is the supply of doctors is artificially restricted by the AMA.
The supply of doctors is not restricted by the AMA. The supply of doctors is determined by the number of residency spots available to new graduates; that number is entirely determined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Thanks to the Balance Budget Act of 1997, Graduate Medical Education (GME) was dramatically slowed due to decreases in Medicare funding of residency positions. [1] As long as we require ph…
If hospitals can afford to give their executives seven figure compensation packages, they can afford to fund a few residents.