Posted on 01/05/2025 12:00:24 PM PST by ChicagoConservative27
Americans nationwide have every reason to be optimistic that positive change is on the horizon for the nation’s healthcare system. Though new government figures show costs $4.9 trillion per year and 17.6 percent of GDP, straining families, businesses, workers and public-sector budgets, President-elect Trump and his healthcare nominees are poised to deliver access to quality care at far lower costs, by fully realizing his price transparency legacy.
Using power vested by the Affordable Care Act, Trump issued hospital and health insurance price transparency rules during his first administration that empower consumers, including employers and unions, with actual prices for their care and coverage. With this information, patients and employers can protect themselves from overcharges and choose affordable care.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Lasix surgery has dropped dramatically in cost.
Being an elective, providers had to compete.
As a CASH paying customer without insurance, I already have Price Transparency.
My regular Doctor is a $125 office visit, that usually covers everything. If I need stitches, 12 Stitches $500 All in.
The Hospital also has Pricing Posted. As a CASH customer when I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk, I went to my doctor and he sent me straight to the Emergency room with a prescription, they took me instantly. Had an Ultrasound and other assorted tests. I had a Blood Clot under my knee so they gave me a shot and prescriptions for blood thinners and pain pills.
When I got all the bills from the Hospital a few weeks later, they Listed the “Insurance Billing” Price and the NO Insurance CASH Price. Insurance was $13,000, CASH was $2500 ALL IN.
At $13,000 with a $7000 Deductible and a 20% CoPay COST is Over $8,000 plus whatever your premium is.
I have reduced my healthcare expenses to near zero since I discovered benefits of daily aerobic exercise. Benefits include improved heart function, reduce A1C, reduce blood pressure, lost 25 lbs from 175 lbs, avoided knee replacement, rarely get colds or flu, and the benefit I like best is lot more energy.
Yes.
Any PT can request an itemized invoice down to the penny. If a hospital or medical office gives you slack then retort by “My lawyer says thank you for saying that”. Most people think insurance companies still or will has this out. Get the invoices that are being billed, it’s your right as a consumer.
Yes we discovered the benefits of cash about 13 years ago when we had a gap in insurance coverage. Mr GG2 had to go to the ER for an eye injury. Later when they called us about the bill it was over $1200. When Mr GG2 said he would pay cash the the clerk said oh then its only $650.
Sorry, ...”has this out...” should be “...hash this out...”.
I have noticed improvement in my health with carnivore diet. Lost 100 pounds in two yrs, all blood work WNL, more active - on purpose because I am approaching 80 yo.
I get plenty of good sleep and I intentionally lift out heavy bags of seed, corn, etc rather than get the offered help of passer-byes. I just do a lot of work that I use to not do. Slight bone loss so I’m on 600mg calcium per day. Summer is best time to work ie garden and yard work.
There is definitely Price fixing in the Medical Industrial Complex. It is against the law.
I have an amazing idea!
What if…
- people paid for their own healthcare when they need it.
- people could purchase insurance for that if they want
- hospitals and clinics made money by curing people
- the best would make lots of money
- people would try to stay healthy if it cost money to get sick
Apologies in advance to all the collectivists out there!
Good idea.
‘What if…
- people paid for their own healthcare when they need it.
- people could purchase insurance for that if they want
- hospitals and clinics made money by curing people
- the best would make lots of money
- people would try to stay healthy if it cost money to get sick’
The world would be a much better place.
Remember the “insurance billing” is just a suggestion. Because the first thing the insurance company does is say “we ain’t paying that” and then they pay maybe 60% of that (and then send you a letter saying how much they “saved”). Because the insurance companies “discount” all their payments to doctors and hospitals the doctors and hospitals pad their bills. They know if they want $2500 they have to tell the insurance company they want more to get “discounted” to $2500. It’s a silly game they play, and it will be interesting to see how they handle price transparency in a world where both parties have to lie to each other.
Anyone who believes this, understands absolutely nothing about the health care industry in the United States.
As someone who has spent decades working for companies that do health insurance and delivery of health care, I can tell you point blank, this argument of market forces will fix health care is absolute hogwash.
It’s red meat for a bunch of naive folks who will swallow it because it’s what they want to hear, but it absolutely will do nothing to lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve outcomes or anything else they claim it will do.
The people making these claims are lying to the American people just as much as Obama and his minions lied about how Obamacare would deliver the same benefits. It’s just not true, on any level… but it agrees with certain people preconceived ideological beliefs so they will swallow it out of naïveté.
I say this as someone who naive believed it myself, and then spent more than a decade in the industry, both on the insurance and delivery side and I can tell you, the idea that “up front pricing” will fix what’s wrong with US health care is pure unadulterated hokum.
Thanks for sharing!
Physician costs are about 8% of each health care dollar. Administrative costs are 25-30% (e.g. administrators etc who provide no patient care, are often making 8 figure salaries, and in general do a much worse job than the nuns that used to run hospitals). If we reduced administrative costs to 15% or less (very, very, very easy to do - without any significant affect on the system), capped malpractice costs, and went back to fee for service we would reduce cost dramatically.
That's just for starters. Without ANY questions American medicine can be run better, more efficiently, and with much better care than any other system in the world - with our own unique approach that doesn't involve the inefficiency and lack of choice of government-run systems.
With regards your comment about having physicians and hospital compete with one another, this would be fine - but you then have to reverse the laws that prevented physicians from owning their own facilities/hospitals.
One last example. When the Obama administration was working on f'ing up the health care system further, they mandated electronic medical record systems. The woman who started EPIC Systems donated significant amounts of money and lobbied the Obama's administration. EPIC wound up getting a big leg up on all their competition. They are incredibly expensive, use a system built on a billing program instead of primarily a patient care program, and after many years are still trying to get their product to work well. It generally doesn't work well, has added many more hours to the work that care givers have to do, and has in too many instances taken physicians and nurses away from the bedside while they sit at computer terminals. I'm quite sure that you could take 10 IT people from FR, site them down with a group of physicians and nurses, and they would come up with a much better system that could be implemented for a ton less money.
Physician costs are about 8% of each health care dollar. Administrative costs are 25-30% (e.g. administrators etc who provide no patient care, are often making 8 figure salaries, and in general do a much worse job than the nuns that used to run hospitals). If we reduced administrative costs to 15% or less (very, very, very easy to do - without any significant affect on the system), capped malpractice costs, and went back to fee for service we would reduce cost dramatically.
That's just for starters. Without ANY questions American medicine can be run better, more efficiently, and with much better care than any other system in the world - with our own unique approach that doesn't involve the inefficiency and lack of choice of government-run systems.
With regards your comment about having physicians and hospital compete with one another, this would be fine - but you then have to reverse the laws that prevented physicians from owning their own facilities/hospitals.
One last example. When the Obama administration was working on f'ing up the health care system further, they mandated electronic medical record systems. The woman who started EPIC Systems donated significant amounts of money and lobbied the Obama's administration. EPIC wound up getting a big leg up on all their competition. They are incredibly expensive, use a system built on a billing program instead of primarily a patient care program, and after many years are still trying to get their product to work well. It generally doesn't work well, has added many more hours to the work that care givers have to do, and has in too many instances taken physicians and nurses away from the bedside while they sit at computer terminals. I'm quite sure that you could take 10 IT people from FR, site them down with a group of physicians and nurses, and they would come up with a much better system that could be implemented for a ton less money.
As I recall, Trump mandated this posting of prices for medical services in his first term. I kept waiting to see them and never did. What happened?
ZERO respect for medicine.
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