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When I needed an MRI, I called five different places and only one of them would actually tell me a price. All of the others said "we don't know the price until
by soccerdave 10y ago
When I needed an MRI, I called five different places and only one of them would actually tell me a price. All of the others said "we don't know the price until we submit the claim to insurance". Not sure if they were telling the truth or just being lazy at their jobs. Either way, getting a price in advance is not as simple as just asking.
- clamprecht 10y agoI wonder if someone has made a video of this - asking for a price and getting a response like "we can't tell you" or "we don't know." It shows how absurd the system is.
- swyman 10y agoWhy yes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tct38KwROdw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tct38KwROdw
- WalterBright 10y agoSometimes they need a little prodding. Tell them you're getting a price from [name of competitor].
- pmorici 10y agoTell them you want to know the "cash" price.
- ethbro 10y agoIn fact, they know two exact prices: (1) the price they will bill your particular insurance company & (2) the lowest price in actual total they can accept Unfortunately, there's no benefit to them to tell you (2). And without verifying your exact insurance coverage (i.e. submitting a claim) they have no idea how (1) relates to your eventual out-of-pocket costs (and they're disincentivized from telling you the billed rate in case you're actually another insurer trying to negotiate lower rates).
- nickff 10y agoI'm actually not sure that they know (2), as I've read a number of articles and posts which say that almost no healthcare organization uses cost accounting.
- WalterBright 10y agoIf they can send you a bill with a figure on it, they can produce a quote.
- DollaWilliam 10y agoThat's not true, due to price discrimination. They can't precisely tell how much they can get paid for something until they submit invoices to insurers.
- WalterBright 10y agoIf you opt to submit the claim to your insurance company yourself, this is not an issue.
- richardw 10y agoI think you guys are getting screwed. 1) unless this is the first time they've done it, they'll at least have a range and an explanation for the difference. 2) They're motivated to not tell you. By staying quiet, they prevent you from shopping around. They maintain the ability to decide charges rather than having to negotiate. Telling you only once you owe them is something other businesses would love. Is there a doc in the house who can give us their perspective? What's up with this pricing?
- DollaWilliam 10y agoNot a doctor, but I have spent ~10 years working with data on the reimbursement side of a large hospital. Please see my comment above.
- 10y ago
- el_benhameen 10y agoSame. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with someone, got frustrated, and asked flat out, "are you telling me there's no way to know how much I will pay for this procedure until after it's done?". The answer was "yes".
- rtkwe 10y agoPart of that is because of insurance companies. They don't know exactly what your coverage is in all cases so they know what they'll send to the company but how much they pay will vary a lot from person to person often by a lot.