An MRI Costs $1,145 in America and $138 in Switzerland. But Medicare Could Change That.
- Thread starter Justin Bilyj
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- medicare
MRI on my abdomen ranges from $439 to $1553. Three charged $439, one wants $518 and six wanted $602.
All are par providers within 10 miles of my home.
Took 3 minutes.
Just in case I have another kidney stone, and can wait until Monday, I can keep the cost below $1000. But if it happens on Friday PM like my last one my only choice is the hospital for $1500.
How did you get the info in 3 minutes?
My personal problem is that nothing gets scheduled. The teenager can only get hurt after 9pm, so Urgent Care isn't an option. He knows where the rooms are the local ER. And when the doc says "he needs a CT Scan to eliminate concussion", you get the friggin CT Scan. At $1K.
- 10,832
Single payer is just a matter of time at this point. The only way to save health insurance would be to eliminate group insurance, expand Medicaid to include uninsurables and lower income, and bring UW back to the individual market.
Since none of that will ever happen, single payer will be here within the next 10-15 years imo.
The biggest problem is that no-one cares how much something costs until they get a bill for it. $500 for that Dr visit?? Who cares if insurance pays for it all right!!??
Until people look at their bill and then go ask their Dr or hospital why that amount is justified then nothing will change. If they really wanted to lower the cost of healthcare the gooberment should have legislated healthcare instead of health insurance. Insurance prices are just a result of the price at the point of care.
I took my daughter to the ER about a month ago. Just basic labwork was done (blood/urine/strep test)... but it cost $2k for the labwork!! Thats not including the $1200 for just walking in the door...
Now I only have to pay around $400 of it. Which is steep enough for a random Sunday afternoon illness... but the total was around $3,500... which is absolutely crazy. (and that is not even counting the bill/charges at the walk in clinic I took her to first)
I paid out of pocket for labwork about 5 or 6 years ago and it cost me $300.
Sure we have the best medical care in the world. But we also have the most inflated prices in the world. And our current system of using Health Insurance to fund 100% of our healthcare only hides the true cost of care. And it makes it way too easy for hospitals and doctors to pad the bottom line. (I blame the hospitals more than private doctors)
Since none of that will ever happen, single payer will be here within the next 10-15 years imo.
The biggest problem is that no-one cares how much something costs until they get a bill for it. $500 for that Dr visit?? Who cares if insurance pays for it all right!!??
Until people look at their bill and then go ask their Dr or hospital why that amount is justified then nothing will change. If they really wanted to lower the cost of healthcare the gooberment should have legislated healthcare instead of health insurance. Insurance prices are just a result of the price at the point of care.
I took my daughter to the ER about a month ago. Just basic labwork was done (blood/urine/strep test)... but it cost $2k for the labwork!! Thats not including the $1200 for just walking in the door...
Now I only have to pay around $400 of it. Which is steep enough for a random Sunday afternoon illness... but the total was around $3,500... which is absolutely crazy. (and that is not even counting the bill/charges at the walk in clinic I took her to first)
I paid out of pocket for labwork about 5 or 6 years ago and it cost me $300.
Sure we have the best medical care in the world. But we also have the most inflated prices in the world. And our current system of using Health Insurance to fund 100% of our healthcare only hides the true cost of care. And it makes it way too easy for hospitals and doctors to pad the bottom line. (I blame the hospitals more than private doctors)
- 514
What are the names of some reputable negotiating services?
Logged in to my BCBSGA account, clicked on "Know your cost", selected my name from the covered participants, entered MRI, abdomen and clicked. Up came a dozen or so options.
This is what I have said before. Cost estimators for most common procedures are available on carrier sites if you have a policy with them.
Yeah, my kidney stone was Fri PM. Made it through the night then off to the urgent care at 9AM. They sent me to ER for MRI.
Damn stone couldn't have happened 12 hours earlier.
Both my kids were born in the middle of the night. Wife admitted via ER before midnight, kids didn't make it until 5AM on the first, 12:30AM on the 2nd one. Wife couldn't have waited until the sun comes up to go into labor?
- 8,707
My experience is you lose big time even mentioning something like this when she is in labor and "you" did it to them
My experience is you lose big time even mentioning something like this when she is in labor and "you" did it to them
First hand experience, huh? How many beers did you have before you said that?
I just looked....I don't have that option. But heck, they can only find half their enrollees right now anyway....
And the pregnancy...that was ALL your fault. Where have you been? Its always the husbands fault.
At least it wasn't on Dec 31 and you didn't get charged 2 deductibles like that guy who posted last week
