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The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

thecity.nyc

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Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#71

Post by crispinb »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #6
thorwasdfasdf wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're doing it just because they can. there are some long winded explanations about this being about the negotation process between the hospitals and insurance companies but that's no exucuse. at the end of the day, it's just unmitigated greed on the part of the hospitals.

It's politics as well. The Democratic candidate campaigning on maintaining the status quo is leading against the candidate who is campaigning on single payer. There's not much left to do when larger cohorts of voters prefer an inefficient, wasteful system (or a candidate who supports such a system). What we currently have is what people are voting for . I've tried to make everything stated above objective in keeping…

What we currently have is what people are voting for

We have something similar with respect to climate change policy in Australia - most people in polls and surveys claim to want more aggressive mitigation policies, yet they will just not vote for it.

A complex web of fears and other factors seems to have caused a sclerosis in most of the liberal democracies, and any significant change from the clearly dysfunctional status quo is almost impossible to bring about. Polities that can't respond to changing circumstances are not going to fare well & we clearly have deep troubles in our very near futures.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#72

Post by munk-a »

Lets not forget that the US could dodge a lot of these issues (and increase the chances of a good outcome) by simply putting out a few tens of millions for tests and distributing them to providers free-of-charge with an agreement that there be no administration fee.

That is, honestly, sorta what a government should do in a crisis, just eat the cost to make sure everyone is safe - instead the government is "letting the market decide" and continues to dump millions times the cost of resolving this crisis into boondoggle never-gonna-work F-35 fighter jets.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#73

Post by munk-a »

mikeInAlaska wrote: post #50

Nobody should worry about Covid in the USA, 1) Trumps dead Uncle went to MIT and 2) we have his hunches to keep us safe. Further, as long as we don't test in mass, our case numbers will remain very low.

It is depressing that the hyperbole comment is just a list of easily confirmable statements by the administration.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#74

Post by ______---______ »

CydeWeys wrote: post #18
platetone wrote: post #15

We decided (slash "made the mistake") of going to the emergency room last summer. Spent less than two hours in an exam room before being dismissed with no conclusion and referral to another doctor. Got a $9500 bill about six months later and have been billed a 10% copay on that (insurance paid $5500 already at their negotiated rate). Still fighting it as absolutely absurd, but there's really no hope. This country is…

Meanwhile, I went to the emergency room in a hospital with my girlfriend in London two years ago and it was free for her. We're Americans. Guess which country has better health outcomes.

>Guess which country has better health outcomes.

The US, by all objective measures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_quality_o...

It's actually not uncommon for Brits to travel to America to pay for treatments not available on the national health or to avoid the often years-long waiting lists.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#75

Post by munk-a »

swozey wrote: post #27
platetone wrote: post #15

We decided (slash "made the mistake") of going to the emergency room last summer. Spent less than two hours in an exam room before being dismissed with no conclusion and referral to another doctor. Got a $9500 bill about six months later and have been billed a 10% copay on that (insurance paid $5500 already at their negotiated rate). Still fighting it as absolutely absurd, but there's really no hope. This country is…

I paid something like $800 for one crutch when I sprained my ankle once. Think another $300 for ibuprofen. Now I know why there's a crutch market on craigslist/thrift stores. Not sure what my insurance paid for xrays, etc, but my tab was something like $1100 for that ER rendezvous. Thought I broke my leg. I had a laparoscopic surgery a few years ago that was $35k.

My wife just got a replacement mask for her CPAP (that would run 120$ up here in Canada) for 10$ on wish - except for the packaging it appears to be absolutely identical.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#76

Post by NoblePublius »

This story is total fake news. The patient is a teacher with a Cadillac health insurance plan. She paid $75 co-pay. The $10,000 bill is an illusion printed by the insurance company to make her think that her insurance is actually valuable. No one was paid $10,000. The hospital was paid a secret negotiated rate much much much much lower than $10,000.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#77

Post by mitchdoogle »

aurelwu wrote: post #19

The statement from the hospital management boggles my mind: "In addition, there are different parts to a patient bill. One part is what the hospital charges the insurance company, one part is what the insurance company eventually pays [...]" I can't think of any other business transaction where someone just puts a giant number on a bill and then is happy if someone pays ~25% of it. Such companies would be shunned by…

Here is an overview of the economics of healthcare from a textbook: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mankiw/files/economics_of_...

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#79

Post by hcknwscommenter »

staticassertion wrote: post #64
munk-a wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in the states I was on a medication I needed to get filled every month (Methylphenidate for the curious) due to life situation my cost to do so varied in this manner over the span of half a year: 30$ (1$/pill) while on uni insurance 0$ on state healthcare while unemployed (Green Mountain Care) 270$ (9$/pill) while employed and not qualifying for employer healthcare 120$ (4$/pill) while employed with my b…

Yeah. A lot of people focus on the insured vs uninsured gap - if you're uninsured you're fucked. But the reality is that, even with insurance, medical care is a disaster. Finding a doctor in your network, waiting months to see them, completely unpredictable costs that, to me, borders on fraud, etc. I've recently started a company, and at the same time a friend was laid off, and over the last 6 or so months I've gotte…

The whole waiting months thing is so shameful, since it is a major talking point from people arguing in favor of the status quo. They point to wait times in Canada, which are entirely misinterpreted and never point to the fact that it can take months to see a specialist in your network in the US. Heck, the number of times I've been told "this Dr. is not taking any new patients" or some version of that, is astronomical.

Re: The Cost of Not Getting Tested for Coronavirus: A $10K ER Bill

#80

Post by trhway »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #26
platetone wrote: post #15

We decided (slash "made the mistake") of going to the emergency room last summer. Spent less than two hours in an exam room before being dismissed with no conclusion and referral to another doctor. Got a $9500 bill about six months later and have been billed a 10% copay on that (insurance paid $5500 already at their negotiated rate). Still fighting it as absolutely absurd, but there's really no hope. This country is…

People take UBER to the hospital now instead of an ambulance. #Merica

one can wonder when Uber would get into the ambulance market.
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