Price Gauging

[scagnt83]

Doctors certainly have a right to a mark up, but not a 200%+ one.
A regular doctor should have a higher markup over a hospital, but unfortunately it seems to be the other way around sometimes.
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1) Price transparency
2) Tort reform
3) Personal responsibility

Until those three things are addressed there will be no answer to the health care crisis.

Too bad not one of the 2000+ pages of the health reform bill cover any of that!!

 

[djs]

A while back, many hospitals and clinics in my area stopped taking Blue Cross insurance coverage for non-emergency care. They put a sign on the door, saying due to Blue Cross not paying a fair price for services, they could no longer accept Blue Cross insurance.

Blue Cross lost in the court of public opinion. They couldn't put a sign on the door that said:
This Hospital is going to charge you $275 for a $75 boot!

Because of this, you now have this crazy pricing.

In fairness though, that $12 aspirin includes the fancy little paper cup they put it in when they dispense it to you. Makes it worth every bit of the price!!!

Dan

 

[scagnt83]

A while back, many hospitals and clinics in my area stopped taking Blue Cross insurance coverage for non-emergency care. They put a sign on the door, saying due to Blue Cross not paying a fair price for services, they could no longer accept Blue Cross insurance.

Blue Cross lost in the court of public opinion. They couldn't put a sign on the door that said:
This Hospital is going to charge you $275 for a $75 boot!

Because of this, you now have this crazy pricing.

In fairness though, that $12 aspirin includes the fancy little paper cup they put it in when they dispense it to you. Makes it worth every bit of the price!!!

Dan

Yeah, but that doesnt mean that insurance companies dont have any leverage against the hospitals.
BC/BS has a huge market share in many areas; what happens when the insurance company says to the hospital "we insure 70% of your patients, meet our terms or we pull out and 70% of your patients have no means to pay..."

Its a constant back and forth between the two. Each one is just as guilty of it as the other.

 

[arnguy]

I dunno, do you mean price gouging?

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

It all goes around in one big vicious circle. Hospitals get stuck with the bills from the uninsured and as Somarco pointed out, even those with insurance who don't have the funds to pay their OOP which means costs have to be adjusted.

Those costs get passed onto carriers which forces then to raise rates...which forces the healthy to dive out, leaving the sick. Then the carrier has to dump the block. Then it's musical chairs and the healthy jump from carrier to carrier to get new business rates....until they become uninsurable. Then they find that the chairs are all taken.

Rinse and repeat.

 

[bollingjoe]

i think everyone has to make money lol

 

[VolAgent]

So John, what is the answer? How do you break the cycle?

 

[MzRSmith]

I dunno what the answer is to this, but BCBS does not seem to catch alot-and unfairly-the docs and hospitals keep billing for sometimes, things that weren't even done..I've seen it on a patient's bill before..I was there to insure an employee-and the owner pulled his bill out-wanting to know hwo we could pay his same bill with another carrier-when he realized they billed the ins company for things that weren't done to him...crazy..

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'm not sure what the answer is but to me, some of it should be illegal.

Imagine my car breaks down and I call for a tow - without a towing plan. He tows me say 20 miles and we get to a service station where he says "Ok, that's $1,250."

I say "WHAT??????" He says "Yep, those are my rates. You don't have to pay it but you car will stay on my flat bed and I'll turn you over to collections.

Currently, that's how health insurance works if you hit the ER.

 

[VolAgent]

I'm not sure what the answer is but to me, some of it should be illegal.

Imagine my car breaks down and I call for a tow - without a towing plan. He tows me say 20 miles and we get to a service station where he says "Ok, that's $1,250."

I say "WHAT??????" He says "Yep, those are my rates. You don't have to pay it but you car will stay on my flat bed and I'll turn you over to collections.

Currently, that's how health insurance works if you hit the ER.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't mechanics do the same? I thought they were able to hold the vehicle and put a lein on it if the bill is unpaid?

Now, I believe towing is somewhat regulated so he might not be able to charge that much, but he could probably charge you $200+ in some areas.