Medical Billing is ripe for disruption, but of note, I don't know of any startup that has made significant inroads into this market. Anyone know why its so tough to break?
Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
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Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#22It always is the "Insurer". The middle man mafia that has no reason to exist between a Doctor and Patient except for Catastrophic situations as all insurance should be. But not in America. We pay a heavy price for that.
Imagine if we had "food insurance". Your grocery store is "in network", but the butcher sends you a bill because he is out-of-network. No prices on anything, because your insurance carrier has "negotiated" a price for you, which you only find out after the fact.
Or imagine you had Car Insurance butting in everything including an Oil change and dictating which shop you can use for the oil change. I bet it won't be a $20-$30 oil change anymore and your premiums will be much higher than it already is.
Btw, don't give the Food industry these ideas :). It would suck if we now have "Food Insurance"
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#23The comments so far miss the point. Off-the-shelf software is not HIPAA compliant. Government restricts supply through regulation, monopolists collect rent. If HIPAA were to be relaxed, off-the-shelf software can be used and fees would plummet. Don't blame "insurers", "middlemen", "capitalism" etc; blame well-intentioned / poorly designed regulations.
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#24The comments so far miss the point. Off-the-shelf software is not HIPAA compliant. Government restricts supply through regulation, monopolists collect rent. If HIPAA were to be relaxed, off-the-shelf software can be used and fees would plummet. Don't blame "insurers", "middlemen", "capitalism" etc; blame well-intentioned / poorly designed regulations.
How is the government restricting the supply of HIPAA-compliant software?
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#25The last time I checked, 33% of US healthcare dollars went to paying people at the insurance company and people at the healthcare provider to negotiate with each other.
One way to avoid this in the US is to go with an HMO, since they can be wildly profitable and still be much more efficient than an insurance company + independent providers. Of course, the problem with that is that non-emergency care from third-party doctors isn't covered by the HMO.
A better way to solve the problem is to go with a single-payer healthcare system, such as the one the progressives was proposing during the Obamacare negotiations. (As every other first-world country has done at this point.)
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#26Yet another reason we need a public option. The market dominance and collusion of this oligopoly makes this behavior so easy.
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#27Surely the govt should step in and say that if you are charging extra for electronic vs paper, that's illegal?
Haha, the US government? Maybe some state insurance commissioners, but the American regulatory apparatus is mostly captured. The natural result of allowing corporations to buy politicians under the hilariously stupid pretext that it is "free speech."
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#28The last time I checked, 33% of US healthcare dollars went to paying people at the insurance company and people at the healthcare provider to negotiate with each other. One way to avoid this in the US is to go with an HMO, since they can be wildly profitable and still be much more efficient than an insurance company + independent providers. Of course, the problem with that is that non-emergency care from third-party…
And don't forget the cost of health Insurance for the actual consumers including Premiums, Deductible, Co-Pays, Co-Insurance and all the other nonsense.
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#29Medical Billing is ripe for disruption, but of note, I don't know of any startup that has made significant inroads into this market. Anyone know why its so tough to break?
Seriously? Barriers to entry are massive. The insurance lobby is not going to just let their cash cow get "disrupted." Unlike those middle class taxi drivers that got obliterated by Uber, the healthcare industrial complex has a massive war chest and plenty of political clout.
Re: Why doctors pay millions in fees that could be spent on care
#30As an European it is unbelievable with the kind of crap Americans need to deal with. I would expect the bank to apply a microscopic transfer fee and that's it, not a normal company deciding an arbitrary insane percentage fee. It really feels like everything is trying to nickel and dime you guys over there.
>It really feels like everything is trying to nickel and dime you guys over there.
This is what being American means. Capitalism and rent seeking to the max!