Posted on 09/29/2014 9:28:11 AM PDT by Timber Rattler
Get ready to whip out your credit card before you are wheeled into the operating room or undergo an MRI.
Hospitals are increasingly asking patients to pay for procedures either upfront or before they are discharged. That's because Americans are shouldering a greater portion of their health care bills, and medical centers don't want to get stuck with patients that can't pay.
(snip)
The policies available on the Affordable Care Act exchanges are hastening this trend. Many enrollees are opting for the bronze and silver plans, which often carry deductibles upwards of $5,000 and $2,000, respectively.
"The bronze plans are scaring a lot of administrators because the patient liability is so large," said Debra Lowe, administrative director of revenue cycle at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center. "Patients are unaware they have this high deductible."
Three months ago my wife tried to negotiate with a hospital on a bill she’d gotten. The woman told her she couldn’t accept a lessor payment until October. We have know idea why. My wife sent a check with “PAID IN FULL” in the memo section. They cashed it. We keep getting bills for the difference so we sent them a copie of the cancelled check. We believe the bill will stop coming next month.
Yup, this is actually going to make the case for single payer to a lot of people.
Stuffed with Mexicans and blacks.
I and one other white guy were the only ones asked to pay anything during that whole time.
Later I got socked with a $250 deductible payment for outpatient services, so I was subsidizing care for Mexicans and the local loafing class through both my taxes and my own pocket.
It's incredible, but I suspect there are many people out there who are not financially sophisticated enough to know how insurance works.
and the press will carry that theme for them 24/7.
“It’s incredible, but I suspect there are many people out there who are not financially sophisticated enough to know how insurance works. “
Don’t expect most to pony up $5k either.
their business tax year ends in september. could probably do bookkeeping to accept a lesser amt in the next year.
Delicious irony though in that the supporters of this claptrap were all under the delusion that health care was gonna be FREE.
Not gonna go well for Barry and the boys when enough of them get smacked with up-front charges.
Same as public utilities and how the gubment “protects” the public.
Many years ago I saw how public utilities operate. Our gas plant, operated by a large oil company was across the street from one operated by a public utility... Michigan Wisconsin Gas. Our plant looked like hell theirs was perfect and pristine. The difference? Theirs was paid for by rate payers and their profit was a guaranteed percentage of costs. Our profit was based on a margin of sales - cost. Not the same. We were motivated to keep cost down and they were motivated to make costs as high as possible.
How does this happen? Politics and politicians and legalized bribes in the form of campaign “contributions”. This is why the insurance companies support obastard care. That rule that premiums can’t exceed a certain percentage of cost and that overhead can only be a certain percentage of premiums and the refund some got the first year... remember it well, you won’t see that again. Costs will be adjusted up in a back scratching agreement between insurers and providers. They both win and we are screwed.
It actually would be appropriate for people to have to keep the amount of the deductible in an account or as available on a credit card as a condition of the insurance.
I hope every Obama supporter who chose a subsidized ObamaCare plan gets bitten by this. These parasites are no different from mosquitoes - a good swat is what they need now and them.
I love your optimism. Seriously, though, what action have the Repubs done in the last 20 years that would make you think that this has even a modicum of possibilty of coming to fruition?
But the GOP-e solution is not repeal; it’s “fixing” 0bamafraud.
I remember a news report recently about them checking back with that woman. I don't remember if she had totally seen the light, but she was disappointed and **ssed.
Wondering out loud... Soon to be made law? A withholding program run by the government that keeps the money in a "lockbox" so you have enough to pay the deductible?
I know I used to have something like that, in a job of long ago...HSA (health savings accounts).
‘Bout the ONLY job, and time, I’ve been offered. Now, they all favor the FSA (flexible). I presume D.C./etc. are harping the latter; even though it’s ‘use it or lose it’ vs. the former (which is ‘MY’ $$). Yeah, I can see why already...
“The nightmare is just getting started.”
BUMP!
We have had to pay something up front since 2010 at our local hospital. If you pay in full, they discount the amount, so we try to pay it all. Not always possible, but we do what we can do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.