Your heart attack bill: $3,300 in Arkansas, $92,000 in California

[redsamurai]

Those crazy numbers are just a side-effect of how hospitals mark-up bills and charge insurance companies.

1) Hospital develops a Charge Master with crazy mark-ups.

2) Patient billed crazy charges and sent to insurer as line-item bill.

3) Insurance company say, "To hell with that, I'm only paying X (i.e. 140% of Medicare)".

4) Hospital takes payment and writes rest of bill down.

how is this normal business procedure? This interaction you just described is what goes on at every middle eastern market with the only difference being hospitals and ins co's don't barter with each other in livestock and daughters. FFS.

 

[mrplunkey]

how is this normal business procedure? This interaction you just described is what goes on at every middle eastern market with the only difference being hospitals and ins co's don't barter with each other in livestock and daughters. FFS.

Medicare charges must be itemized.

Know what else is cool? Let's say Chris charges Medicare $1,200 for a laproscopic vaginally-assisted hysterectomy (CPT 58550). Then an uninsured person comes in and needs the procedure. So Chris feels benevolent and tells her he'll only charge her $200 cash.

Know what happens to Chris then? He gets to go to jail for Medicare fraud.

Now *that* is good government.

 

[mistaballoonhands]

tis true

 

[redsamurai]

Know what happens to Chris then? He gets to go to jail for Medicare fraud.

.

I'm ok with this.

 

[mrplunkey]

I'm ok with this.

Yeah, I think it's funny too when the government lowers the quality of health care and destroys someone's financial position through arbitrary and capricious regulation.

The answer is obvious: We just need to give the government more control.

 

[Mr. dB]

Yeah, I think it's funny too when the government lowers the quality of health care and destroys someone's financial position through arbitrary and capricious regulation.

The answer is obvious: We just need to give the government more control.

Or better yet, abolish all regulation, the market will sort it all out.

 

[mrplunkey]

Or better yet, abolish all regulation, the market will sort it all out.

Never!

Then people would be forced to compete on price, quality and service. Why do that when the current system is such a smashing success?

 

[redsamurai]

Yeah, I think it's funny too when the government lowers the quality of health care and destroys someone's financial position through arbitrary and capricious regulation.

The answer is obvious: We just need to give the government more control.

Yeah I don't know about all that just know that I'm ok with Chris sharing a cell with this guy...http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmyl770F0H1qf3rk4o1_400.jpg

 

[mrplunkey]

Yeah I don't know about all that just know that I'm ok with Chris sharing a cell with this guy...http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmyl770F0H1qf3rk4o1_400.jpg

I'm pretty sure you're a higher incarceration risk than he is.

Or have you been to jail already?

 

[-SD-]

Yea what good to the world will chris be, we all know doctors are worthless. I will entrust all my healthcare needs to the naturopath that shares office space with the tarot card reader down the street