zeke
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Post by zeke on Apr 6, 2016 8:41:14 GMT -8
OK, time for a bit of a rant. My wife, whom I refer to as M, tore her rotator cuff while gardening. It meant she couldn't appear in the normal rotation during Spring Training, and Opening Day. (Baseball joke) We ended up going to an orthopedic surgeon to get treatment. Since we were self paying (I have chosen to not have insurance for the past 3 years, and won't until next Oct. Don't ask why.), the entire thing cost me $550. I later received a bill from them for $2159 and it did not reflect our $550 payment.
I called the office, and they told me we were all paid up, that the billing office had not noted that we were self paying. This was the bill they send to insurance companies. Now, here is the rant. Dr bill insurance companies 4 times what they charge to do the same thing if you pay your own way. Insurance companies need to make some profit, so they mark up the premiums accordingly. Drs make more, and Insurance companies make more, since I am sure they want their profits to be some % of their costs.
4 times the cost seems outrageous to me, and it is the Drs office making that decision, based on what the insurance companies will pay. If we could just get everyone to agree to a 50% cut all around, everyone would still be happy, and insurance wouldn't cost so damn much. Mark me down as another Universal Healthcare, Single Payer proponent. I'd rather pay higher taxes and have Medicare for all. If this turns into a big debate about that, I will contact Steve to move this to TPA, but it is intended to be a rant about the difference between self pay and insurance billing.
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foxalo
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Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent.---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Post by foxalo on Apr 6, 2016 8:58:06 GMT -8
I completely agree with you! Seeing some of the hospital bills this past year for myself and my son, it's ridiculous! When you get the insurance statement, they always write off a huge chunk based on what their agreement is with the doctor or hospital. I've always wondered why they submit a huge bill in the first place. If you agreed that this is how much you will pay, then why inflate? I think my dentist is the only one that honestly submits what the actual cost is based on their agreement, and that's only because they make me pay up front the percentage owed.
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amaruq
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Post by amaruq on Apr 6, 2016 9:10:29 GMT -8
Do you like waiting rooms?
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Apr 6, 2016 9:20:21 GMT -8
Seeing some of the hospital bills this past year for myself and my son, it's ridiculous! M was in the hospital Nov of 2013, and we paid for that ourselves. We got off with $8K for 2 nights stay, over a broken rib ER visit and a complication they wanted to watch.
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FamilySherpa
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Post by FamilySherpa on Apr 6, 2016 9:24:28 GMT -8
Completely agree zeke.
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BlueBear
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Post by BlueBear on Apr 6, 2016 9:37:41 GMT -8
Seeing some of the hospital bills this past year for myself and my son, it's ridiculous! M was in the hospital Nov of 2013, and we paid for that ourselves. We got off with $8K for 2 nights stay, over a broken rib ER visit and a complication they wanted to watch.That's getting off easy. A 3-hour ER visit for my busted shoulder last November cost $17000, not including the $1200 1-mile ambulance trip. Or the surgery a week later. I understand X-rays and CAT scans aren't cheap, but $17K is a helluva lot of money. The profit margins are absolutely enormous.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2016 10:00:23 GMT -8
I'm not sure which is worse in this country: the mafia or the healthcare-insurance industry.
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foxalo
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Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent.---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Post by foxalo on Apr 6, 2016 10:58:15 GMT -8
I was appalled at the cost of the CT scan for me. It was around $10K. I believe we ended up only coming out of pocket for less than $2000, but that's because we had had an active year medically. My son's ER visit cost over $2000 out of pocket. I don't know what the break down of the bill was, but he also had a CT scan. I'm wondering if the charges were any lighter because, he went to a Children's Hospital and I didn't. I do know that his ER visit met or deductible for the year, so the rest of the year should have much smaller bills for regular stuff.
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Post by hikerjer on Apr 6, 2016 11:39:29 GMT -8
The entire health system from medical care to insurance to ambulance fees is very, very broken in this county. Of course, it will extremely difficult to fix since they have such a strangle hold on the government and regulators. Next time you get a bill from the hospital, try to find someone who can explain it to you. Almost impossible to.
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Westy
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Post by Westy on Apr 6, 2016 12:11:53 GMT -8
MADNESSMedical system is a train wreck.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Apr 6, 2016 12:27:43 GMT -8
Don't even get me started.......
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johnnyray
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Post by johnnyray on Apr 6, 2016 12:32:09 GMT -8
Think about it, health insurance companies don't provide health care they are supposed to spread risk. What they really seem to do is make exorbitant profits limiting treatment, inflating costs, and taking a cut off the top .
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echo
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Post by echo on Apr 6, 2016 12:34:50 GMT -8
My dental insurance is strange, it covers everything but a $20 copay, per visit, so if I have my teeth cleaned or get four teeth pulled, or a root canal - it costs me $20. But it only covers Willamette Dental, so if I'm out of Oregon I'm not covered for anything and my best / closest available. Dentist is 90 miles from me
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Post by paula53 on Apr 6, 2016 12:53:03 GMT -8
I learned the hard way. A few years ago I had cancer.the cost of surgery, chemo, adjuvant treatment, prescriptions, and scans was quite shocking. Back then before Obama Care a Healthcare provider could drop people who had a cancer diagnosis. People sill can't afford to get a major illness. All of the money goes to premiums. They can't afford the treatments. We need a government sponsored medical system. It will work.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Apr 6, 2016 13:57:38 GMT -8
I've been saying this for years - different fee schedules for different patients is a scam in itself.
Every year for a while there, I had to go in for my annual "treadmill test" (where they inject you with a radioactive isotope, run you on a treadmill until your heart rate is up, then send you to a cat scan machine to look at "blood flow" in your heart). One time I was there with a group of people in a small waiting room and we started comparing notes on what was charged for the process. It was really eye-opening: there was literally no one in the room who paid the same thing! Charges ranged from as much as $700 to over $5000.
ETA: Why does this seem like something EVERYONE could agree on and get behind (govt. universal healthcare) --- but, then...nada.
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