Posted on 01/02/2021 7:16:14 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Damn tootin’. I wanna know why it costs $30k to shove a lighted plumbing snake up my butt and snip off a few polyps. Then they bill you separate for the butt doctor, the gas, the OR time, the supplies........
I think you could have a “Cash” option but your ability to sue would be gone.
You are not going to sue “Doc” if something goes wrong with removing a bullet.
EMTALA. Cost shift to cover non-payors.
That’s because medicare and medicaid rates do t cover the cost of care delivered. Billing to private insurance companies has made up the difference for years
medical floors are losers for hospitals most are medicare patients. The money in hospitals is made by elective surgeries paid by private insurers. Joint replacement surgeries and spine surgeries are big. The hospital loses money in the typical medical patient
some offices don’t even bother to bill medicaid and medicare did some services. The reimbursement rates are so low it’s not worth their time
Yep, exactly...govt. programs pay/reimburse the least, (loss for providers) followed by the insurance companies/private insurance (in the green for providers but not by much)(makes up for govt. underpayment), and private pay/cash pays the most (but a very small group). Private pay/cash should pay the least...no insurance billing cost to the provider and no wait for the payment.
usually private pay/cash get a big discount and few ultimately pay. remember all the illegals in ERs and hospitals that get expensive care and never pay. Recently we had one illegal in our place that got 2 million dollars worth of care, saved his life and all they did was complain. They had a daily appointment with administration to list their complaints for the day
I saw that in action. Was being treated at a physician owned Cancer Center. Full facility. They had to turn the infusion room over to one of the local hospitals...which is a giant corp and has hospitals all across the U.S. Was a real mess for people receiving chemo at the time. My doc at the center told me why and what was happening.
I thought the overcharges on the hospital bill was the way they made the paying customers pay for those who don’t pay their bill. How will they cover their deficit now?
Q for anyone: Are they posting the UCR prices (Usual, Customary, and Reasonable)?
I tried a couple of years ago to get price info on procedures and tests from some local hospitals for a family member who had no insurance and was going to pay cash.
All the hospitals refused to give me that info. All insisted the family member come in for what was termed “financial counseling” before prices could be discussed.
The family member refused and went without care.
“some offices don’t even bother to bill medicaid and medicare did some services. The reimbursement rates are so low it’s not worth their time”
A friend of mine is a counselor. He was paid $7.82 for a 1/2 hr consultation with a client on medicaid. His billing service ate up most of that.
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