Auto insurance is one of the big contributors to excessive hospital costs. In the ‘no fault states’, the insurers just treat whatever the hospitals send as a book entry and mail checks until the policy limit is reached. A recent example in lower Delaware had a hospital charging almost $80,000 for 18 hours of limited care until the patient was moved elsewhere. It seems the bill was rushed to the insurer before anyone else could get their hands on the auto insurance stash. The insurance company wrote the check with a small discount and that was that. An insurer like Medicare or Aetna would have fought those charges down to less than half that, I’m sure.
This comparative study is the first worthwhile thing I’ve seen the government do to sensibly address the cost of medical care in this country.
I have had insurances send me a bill and try to by pass medicare and supplemental....Like you say in your answer, I called them and told them to bill medicare and supplemental. I told the gal I will not pay this bill and then in a little while you will bill medicare for the same thing..No problem after that, they went through the right proceedure and like you said, they didn’t get what they wanted me to pay....