Posted on 12/11/2021 3:09:45 AM PST by blueplum
Ridiculous, seemingly arbitrary price markups are a defining characteristic of the $4-trillion U.S. healthcare system — and a key reason Americans pay more for treatment than anyone else in the world.
But to see price hikes of as much as 675% being imposed in real time, automatically, by a hospital's computer system still takes your breath away....
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
“I spent a week with sepsis. By the time I found all the overcharged garbage they knocked down the bill by half.”
A few years back Mrs L spent about that in a hospital for the same reason. Just for giggles I got an itemized bill and went through it. I was astonished at the costs for stupid stuff. $250 for a 36 inch long piece of plastic tubing sticks out.
I found charges for doctors who never even saw my wife or consulted on her case. That was about $5,000 IIRC. I raised holy Hell over that. I threatened to call the States Attorneys office and have them investigated for fraud.
In the end they knocked about 30% off the bill.
Thieves the entire lot of them.
L
Lawyers play a part in the scam too when they jumped on the band wagon for suing doctors prices sky rocketed.
It’s a commodity you can’t do with out note all the TV ads if you have this call 1-800-free money.
Older story but rather relevant, IMHO.
Oklahoma Doctors vs. Obamacare ....... https://reason.com/video/2012/11/15/the-obamacare-revolt-oklahoma-doctors-fi/
My mom was ran a small doctors office years ago. Small town internist that, seemingly, everyone in town went to. Old school that make house calls with one of those black cases. She started there before the Clinton’s got to DC. Most folks had policies that took care of the major stuff and routine visits were paid out of pocket. Simple. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezee.
Then the Clinton’s showed up. HMO’s. Medical coding. Insurance. Red Tape. She said it was a nightmare and the reason that practices were forced to hire staff just for the coding and billing, since it became so laborious and complicated. It appears it’s only gotten worse.
An acquaintance is a doctor. The sister married a doctor who doesn’t practice anymore. He’s in administration. A couple of years ago they came to Atlanta, bought a multi-million dollar house in Buckhead then dropped about high 6 figures or more in renovations. Hear a story like that and it’s no wonder there are unexplained charges on a bill.
Interestingly though, didn’t the previous occupant of the White House try to do something about this and force detailed and transparent billing in the medical and healthcare industries, only to be blocked by Congress?
And wasn’t it Pelosi that squashed a bill that would have allowed individuals to deduct premiums the same way the corporations do?
And, once again, President Trump tried to do something about this and was able to, somewhat. Without any help from Congress. And what happened? The healthcare industry went nuts.
Although, prior to Soetero’s disastrous plan, I went on the, ehealthinsurance, site and found very good coverage for $150-200 a month, with a higher deductible. With regards to pre-existing conditions, I was told that any medication for that condition comes out of pocket for the first year after that, if I got the prescription plan, insurance helps. Any hospitalizations or treatments would be covered from Day 1. Based on that, I’m thinking that argument was at least a little bit of a lie from the beginning. Of course, having something like asthma as opposed to heart disease & diabetes, is a bit different.
“Lawyers play a part in the scam too when they jumped on the band wagon for suing doctors prices sky rocketed.”
If you ever are on the receiving end of a botched operation or incorrect diagnosis of a malady you have, but was a result of poor, even nelgigent, medical care, be sure to simply say “Oh well, such is life! Poor doctors do the best they can!”
“And why does that mean I should buy it from my employer?”
You didn’t “buy it” from your employer. It is an earned benefit, part of the package you bought into when you took your job. If you don’t like your healthcare benefit given to you through your employer, don’t take it and find your own, or quit your job and go elsewhere to work that pays enough so that you can afford to buy your own plan and tailor it to your needs.
Hope you have the capabilities or opportunities to get such a well paying job that you can afford your own good plan. Most people I know that have employer health plans are happy to have them. My plan is more than adequate and affordable to my needs and now that I am retired the employer plan continues until I die, unlike some plans that end when you retire. Again, if you are unhappy with your plan or resent it being employer provided, then quit your job and/or buy your own.
There are plenty of job opportunities for you with businesses that have no plans or lousy ones that you can seek out and then have to buy your own plan or supplement the lousy ones. You’re on your own. You could always go on Obamacare if you like. Or do you prefer that the gov’t provide you with your healthcare as a social welfare program for the masses, an enlarged Obamacare that you will pay for with your taxes.
Insurance being provided through private institutions and businesses is so obviously more preferable to a gov’t entity such as the Biden regime providing it. Do you just have a lousy plan, are you jealous of those having insurance through their workplace, what’s your ax to grind? And bull that it destroys supply and demand. It has serve our citizens quite well thank you, having health insurance coverage through their employment.
I can’t think of any large percentage, indeed it would be a miniacule one, of people on private employer insurance plans that would trade it in for a gov’t one, or have to shop for one of their own, with price hikes for such individual policies going up year after year.
And if you guess wrong in what you choose to have coverage for or not, then you will have to foot the bill for unexpected large expenses brought on by equally unexpected medical problems. Well then, you are just out of luck. But it is your choice, so get your own policy. There is nothing on God’s earth stopping you from doing so. It’s your money; do as you wish with it.
I am incredibly thankful for my employer benefit insurance policy now that I am retired. You do what’s best for you; I’m happy with mine and would hate to have to take your approach to insurance. Economics 101 my foot. The employer based system of health coverage has worked for decades; don’t want what you are pushing, but you go get your own plan; nothing stopping you from doing so. Make sure your policy covers anger management as one of its options.
P.S., I always check all of my bills/receipts for errors regardless of purchase. Everyone should be doing this, and if there are errors, get them corrected. Especially when I go grocery shopping. I catch my share of errors made; I contact them immediately and get the error(s) corrected. Same with health insurance. It’s up to you to police the expenses being charged to check for errors. Get them fixed or bring it to the attention of watchdog entities, be they public or private, if egregious. You are not without options.
No system of insurance is perfect, but you are free to do as you wish including taking a job without insurance benefits and buy your own plan.
“They don’t physically touch patients if they can avoid it — let some nurse look in eyes and ears. Machines and blood labs will diagnose; doctors will read printouts.”
Geez, my Doctors aren’t like that. I like all of my doctors, but I always research the ones I go to before I choose one. I always ask my primary Doc for multiple choices when he is referring me to a specialist, so that I can Google them and make the best pick based on that research. So far it has worked very well for me.
I guess I don’t have quite as bleak an outlook as to doctors as you do. Mine have gotten me through a few rather bad patches and thus I’m alive to type this comment. Bless their souls.
“You mean to tell me that an aspirin actually costs LESS than $38.
Wow! - Who knew?”
Inflated prices are not peculiar to the healthcare industry. When was the last time you went to buy a new car, and have to barter for the price you pay for it? Same gig. How about prices at the gas stations, and the markups all the way up and down the food chain. Keep complaining, but it’s systemic to societies throughout the world, not just here. Obviously is part of human nature to try to get the most money as possible, even if not always fair. If you want total fairness, then look to space aliens for relief because it hasn’t worked down here on earth since the Stone Age.
Look for workarounds whenever possible, rat out corruption when you find it, but don’t expect miracles. You are fighting human nature here.
“Interestingly though, didn’t the previous occupant of the White House try to do something about this and force detailed and transparent billing in the medical and healthcare industries, only to be blocked by Congress?”
Trump had exactly the right approach. You do what you can, and this would have been a good step toward more transparency. Getting rid of the Biden regime will be the next good step. And that first step is the 2022 mid-term elections.
And our country is so bad people are risking their lives to come across our borders.
It was a scandal years ago when people found out that Defense contractors were charging $500 for hammers or toilet seats.
Of course, everyone knew that the cost wasn’t real, put the companies were trying to make a profit, and so the accounting folks charged high prices for simple things like toilet seats.
Laws were put in place, and Defense contractors can’t do things that way anymore. But, of course, they still find ways to make large profits. A bit more subtle. Not so outrageous. But we are not saving any money on Defense contracts because hammers no longer cost $500. In fact, it is quite likely that we are now paying two guys $80,000 a year to monitor all expenditures related to hammers. Meanwhile the companies are managing to squeeze out profits that are even larger, through more creative accounting.
Healthcare is the same game. What bothers me is that the Do-Gooders see Defense and are outraged at the waste and demand that something be done. But they look at healthcare, and $38 aspirin, and they shrug and say “We need to care for poor people”. What it really is (as always) is political activism: “I hate the military / I love a dependent people who only survive by being slaves to government”.
The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the Revolution.
“An acquaintance is a doctor. The sister married a doctor who doesn’t practice anymore. He’s in administration. A couple of years ago they came to Atlanta, bought a multi-million dollar house in Buckhead then dropped about high 6 figures or more in renovations. Hear a story like that and it’s no wonder there are unexplained charges on a bill.”
I think some people need to go through the process it takes to become a doctor. My uncle, deceased, was a doctor as was his father before him. Go through years of schooling, then more years of internship, and all the monetary outlays you have to make to achieve your career goal. And then finally get to the point where you can truly start your practice which usually begins around the age of 30. How many people do you know that don’t really get to truly ply their trade until they are around 30 years of age?
Then deal with all of the gov’t regulations about what you can and can’t do, and try to dodge the litigation bullets that pop up that can destroy your career. My uncle got sued for a mistake made by a nurse and it almost ruined him even though insurance paid for the suit, but psychologically it really hurt him. And most all of the doctors who pursue their career is because they love the profession and want to be able to patch people up, help their fellow man. Like police, military, firemen, their mindset is service oriented.
Don’t be jealous of them; they earn their keep for the most part. All the startup costs are huge too, with staff and equipment. In our high tech age, just the equipment is a huge expense and is necessary for proper diagnosis. In the olden days who too many people want to harken back to, people died young because they didn’t have today’s modern medicine and technology to save their lives. Or the money out-of-pocket to pay for it, or left with huge bills or end up on welfare.
The unscrupulous Docs usually get found out; there are bad seeds in any profession. But for the most part, their intentions are altruistic, and I don’t begrudge them the money they make after starting their careers so late in life. Try doing without them. You could always go to a witch doctor, lol.
As they say — YMMV!
“As they say — YMMV!”
Pardon my ignorance, but what does “YMMV” mean?
Not a jealous bone in my body. My hats off to anyone that wants to go into the field. Especially now.
My beef, something you squarely cannot see, is the fact that is isn’t healthcare anymore and folks(doctors, surgeons, nurses, etc) getting paid their worth. A world renowned heart surgeon getting paid...BRAVO. That person is saving lives and deserves whatever he/she gets.
However, when multiple layers of bureaucracy have been installed and when each layer needs to be paid and each layer getting further and further away from the actual practice of medicine and helping people. Almost like a pyramid scheme.
COVID is a prime example. More or less, the rest of the world is treating it with about $3 worth of drugs that have been around, with no issues, for decades. Not here in America, though. Here in America we’re gonna slam you on a machine and bill the federal government, aka the taxpayer, tens of thousands of dollars for your treatment, whether you live or die. Here in America we’re going to admit as many people as we can into the hospital, complain that it’s overcrowded, start firing all our staff because they won’t get a shot that wasn’t available last year when this crap hit and everyone seemed to make it, and still bill 10s of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Feel free to watch the whole thing.....but if you want to skip to just one part, fast forward to the 2:59 second mark and listen to what they guy has to say.
https://reason.com/video/2012/11/15/the-obamacare-revolt-oklahoma-doctors-fi/
So again, my beef isn’t with a doctor getting paid.
My beef is the layers of bureaucracy that make people rich at the expense of the consumer/patient. When you think about it, it’s no different than our bloated federal government and one not need to look any further than the US Dept of State. How many Deputy Secretaries, Assistant to the Deputy Secretary, Under Secretaries, Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary, etc etc etc, and associated staff for each, does the US need in an embassy in Switzerland and in an age where there is instant communication, any where, any time on the planet.
You’ve been freeping for 23 years, flaglady47. You know very well what it means.
I will not be replying further. Have a wonderful day!
With zero botched operation or incorrect diagnosis some people sue for a living things like the doc said this or he touched me wrong bla bla bla.
If mistakes were made suing is ok but those who don’t make mistakes have to pay for the very high insurance rates just to protect them self from lawyer Larry loophole and the cost is passed onto the public.
No wonder so many doctors quit the business.
You’ve been freeping for 23 years, flaglady47. You know very well what it means.
I will not be replying further. Have a wonderful day!
You’ve been freeping for 23 years, flaglady47. You know very well what it means.
I will not be replying further. Have a wonderful day!
To: buttons12 re: AMMV
Actually, I have no idea what YMMV means. Your reticence in telling me what it means leads to me it is an insult of some sort, although I haven’t got a clue. I’ll ask Freepers on a new thread what it means, as you won’t reply. If it’s such a common meaning, according to you, I’m sure a Freeper more knowledgeable than I will tell me its definition.
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