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I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

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Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#41

When High Deductible Insurance was introduced the supposed concept was to "give employees a stake in their costs, and therefore lower them for both employer and employee." However, even today doing so is very challenging, and before laws like this it was essentially impossible. There's no way to shop around American healthcare, with the system itself working against you at every turn (e.g. doctors prescribing named b…

>So I guess I should shop around by moving cities No, the solution to most social ills in America is to simply not be poor. If you are poor, stop it. Then you don't have to worry about any of this. Consider abortion, a procedure now outlawed in many US states. If you're not poor, you can just pay to travel to another state or country, have the procedure, do some sight-seeing, and come home. The law has no de facto ef…

The other solution is simply not to be sick. If you're sick, stop it. Welcome to America.

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#42

When High Deductible Insurance was introduced the supposed concept was to "give employees a stake in their costs, and therefore lower them for both employer and employee." However, even today doing so is very challenging, and before laws like this it was essentially impossible. There's no way to shop around American healthcare, with the system itself working against you at every turn (e.g. doctors prescribing named b…

>So I guess I should shop around by moving cities No, the solution to most social ills in America is to simply not be poor. If you are poor, stop it. Then you don't have to worry about any of this. Consider abortion, a procedure now outlawed in many US states. If you're not poor, you can just pay to travel to another state or country, have the procedure, do some sight-seeing, and come home. The law has no de facto ef…

cancer treatment costs can make anyone poor. just sayin'

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#43
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WTF about, not just the compensation, but the fact that some of these show a salary of $200k with $2.X million in benefits. Like, what? https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2021/gateway-comm...

The top salaries in that database match the people's names in this article: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/east-county-superintenden...

Not seeing any of the Gateway Community Charter leaderboard on that list.

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#44

When High Deductible Insurance was introduced the supposed concept was to "give employees a stake in their costs, and therefore lower them for both employer and employee." However, even today doing so is very challenging, and before laws like this it was essentially impossible. There's no way to shop around American healthcare, with the system itself working against you at every turn (e.g. doctors prescribing named b…

> Aside but all ambulances around me are "out of network" and don't work with insurance at all. So I guess I should shop around by moving cities..?

That’s rather disturbing, and from a purely pragmatic point of view, you might consider raising a fuss with your employer…

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#45

When High Deductible Insurance was introduced the supposed concept was to "give employees a stake in their costs, and therefore lower them for both employer and employee." However, even today doing so is very challenging, and before laws like this it was essentially impossible. There's no way to shop around American healthcare, with the system itself working against you at every turn (e.g. doctors prescribing named b…

>So I guess I should shop around by moving cities No, the solution to most social ills in America is to simply not be poor. If you are poor, stop it. Then you don't have to worry about any of this. Consider abortion, a procedure now outlawed in many US states. If you're not poor, you can just pay to travel to another state or country, have the procedure, do some sight-seeing, and come home. The law has no de facto ef…

Or don't be racist and rebuild the social safety net

Americans desocialized because of equal rights.

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>So I guess I should shop around by moving cities No, the solution to most social ills in America is to simply not be poor. If you are poor, stop it. Then you don't have to worry about any of this. Consider abortion, a procedure now outlawed in many US states. If you're not poor, you can just pay to travel to another state or country, have the procedure, do some sight-seeing, and come home. The law has no de facto ef…

cancer treatment costs can make anyone poor. just sayin'

That's why AFLAC offers cancer insurance.

https://www.aflac.com/individuals/products/cancer-insurance....

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#47
post #30

> CMS's price transparency law, which requires all hospitals to post their prices online in a single, machine-readable file Whoever got this legislation through deserves a pat on the back.

> Whoever got this legislation through deserves a pat on the back.

That would be Trump.

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#48
post #39

When High Deductible Insurance was introduced the supposed concept was to "give employees a stake in their costs, and therefore lower them for both employer and employee." However, even today doing so is very challenging, and before laws like this it was essentially impossible. There's no way to shop around American healthcare, with the system itself working against you at every turn (e.g. doctors prescribing named b…

> doctors prescribing named brand, and you not be allowed to switch back to generic without another $100+ appointment I'm not sure this is that common, unless you have an adversarial relationship with your doctor. It's actually the opposite: in most states the Dr. must write DAW-dispense as written or 'name brand only' to get the expensive brand. Otherwise, the pharmacist can and will substitute a generic if availabl…

Fun fact, your pharmacist is allowed to change your prescription in some states! Try asking them if there are cheaper generics.

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#49
A chain of clinics recently opened in our area that post all of their prices online.

We almost exclusively go there now for everything. Even if they are occasionally more expensive (briefly, until the normal UC would send their surprise bills), it's just so much easier to pay up front.

Thankfully we have an HSA and it's our money.

Re: I analyzed hospital price lists so you didn't have to

#50
post #6

Toothless law. What article writer should do is just shame the hospitals who don't comply. Tweet at them and make it known.

It really is a toothless law, the hospital probably makes more surplus profit from price discrimination in a single week than their entire fine for the year. The damages should be increased 100x.

Not only that, but it costs money for the hospital to make the chargemaster available, deal with people asking about it, etc. If the fine is really just $900K, if I was a hospital CFO I'd pay that every year without a second thought, or even work up a service charge to add to all hospital billing a la the "Federal Access Charge" AT&T puts on phone bills so I can get people to blame the government for $15 Motrin tablets in the hospital.
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