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Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

latimes.com

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Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#31

Post by kjksf »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #23

You know, I've recently seen here on HN complaints about "product substitution" at Amazon - getting, not what you ordered, but something that Amazon thinks is equivalent. I'm not sure medical supplies is where you want that to happen. I'm therefore not sure that the comparison of price to Amazon is fair. Note well: Yes, hospitals also gouge you. I am not claiming otherwise.

Clearly they used Amazon as a proxy for "place you can buy it".

The important part is being over-charged 900% over retail price, not the exact retailer you buy it from.

Also, it's a sling, not an anti-HIV drug. Hardly a "medical supply".

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#32

Post by inetknght »

coreyoconnor wrote: post #10
rolph wrote: post #3

i wonder if a hospital would still charge you if you refused thier price gouge materials and used your own purchased at a proper price, as in "thanks for setting the bone, i dont need your sling i have my own and it will do fine, here is my lawyers contact card."

IIRC prior to being treated you agree to be financially liable for the costs. Prior to even knowing that that will be or even the costs involved. Or even if you know what is involved are you going to understand what a reasonable cost is? EG: Sling is easy but what about a x-ray study? Is that 200$ or $150? Just like a proper capitalist system! You know, like when you agreed to pay whatever for your iPhone prior to ev…

> You know, like when you agreed to pay whatever for your iPhone prior to even know it'll work.

I can contact Apple for help with any issues I have with my iPhone. I can contact my carrier for any issues I have with my iPhone. I can return my iPhone within a grace period if I don't like it.

Try doing any of that for medical costs.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#33

Post by x86_64Ubuntu »

wil421 wrote: post #22
brink wrote: post #4

I just got an itemized bill today for a minor fall I took a couple months back.. On top of the nearly $6k in other charges from the hospital, they charged $531 for one dab of superglue or "liquid stitches" on my forehead for something that would have healed by itself. One of my friends died two years ago from pneumonia. He didn't go to the hospital when symptoms first started because he was afraid of the bills that w…

What did you pay? What did the insurance company actually end up paying? This is one of the areas that open pricing should help.

I'm not sure open pricing would help seeing as how the average person doesn't have much knowledge to defend themselves against gouging. And when I've got a gash on my head, I'm not going to call around for prices and special discounts.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#34

Post by 14 »

I live in Canada. I have visited the ER probably 5 times in the last year with different kid ailments. I pay MSP about 30$ a month CAD and that covers me and my kids. I do pay out of pocket for medications but any visits to the doctor or hospital are completely covered. Work benefits covers 80% of the meds I have to pay out of pocket. I don't have to second guess when to go in I just go in when things get bad, no questioning will this visit leave me financially unable to feed my family and take care of my health in other ways. I just go in. I hope you guys get something better working for you.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#35

Post by noonespecial »

georgeburdell wrote: post #24

So I work in manufacturing. On one of our systems, we recently upgraded the fleet to a $10k computer with a 22nm processor running RHEL 7 supplied by the system vendor. We had all of the install files and could have bought a $2k computer and gone through an extended install and qualification process, and closing the door to some support from our vendor, but we didn’t. We paid the extra $8k for a guarantee that it wou…

I worked in a newspaper plant. We did everything you just described for all of the same reasons. The system delivered was worse in every way than the one we ended up building for ourselves in the end, didn't work right anyway, and was "supported" by incompetent temps that damaged expensive equipment as they ham-handedly learned their jobs on our dime.

Sometimes its all just a paper facade over simple stuff we can easily do for ourselves with the smallest amount of courage and effort.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#36

Post by pkaye »

rolph wrote: post #3

i wonder if a hospital would still charge you if you refused thier price gouge materials and used your own purchased at a proper price, as in "thanks for setting the bone, i dont need your sling i have my own and it will do fine, here is my lawyers contact card."

I have Kaiser health insurance in the bay area. Whenever we needed a hand or foot brace or walking boot, they seemed to just give out the basic stuff at no extra charge beyond the visit copay. Per the insurance plan there is a copay but they just give it out. Other times they will just recommend something you can buy locally or online. They would give a printout with suggested brand/SKU to consider. They don't mind if you price shop.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#38

Post by wil421 »

x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #33
wil421 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you pay? What did the insurance company actually end up paying? This is one of the areas that open pricing should help.

I'm not sure open pricing would help seeing as how the average person doesn't have much knowledge to defend themselves against gouging. And when I've got a gash on my head, I'm not going to call around for prices and special discounts.

Another commenter said they asked the hospital and they just bill 8x the Medicare rate. Price transparency should help equalize the market. Right now it’s very much a smoke and mirrors pricing scheme.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#39

Post by sprucely »

narrator wrote: post #21

This is why I like Kaiser so much. If you make it to a Kaiser emergency room, and you have Kaiser health insurance, you are not going to get an out-of-network surprise bill. Everyone at Kaiser works for Kaiser and is paid a salary by Kaiser and the Kaiser hospital is the only one that bills you.

Kaiser is great for critical care and general practitioner stuff. But they do most of their cost-cutting in specialty care; the stuff that is rare or tends to not be easily diagnosed while having a major impact on patients' quality of life. Just lookup lawsuits and Kaiser mental health.

Re: Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200

#40

Post by Gibbon1 »

ericd wrote: post #2

We had a call with someone who works on the pricelist/chargemaster for a major metro hospital recently, they set their prices by taking the Medicare reimbursement rate, and multiplying by 8.

If any other business tried billing people like hospitals and doctors do, people would go to prison.
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