3 ms·

"Hoboken University Medical Center, where Pell was seen, declined to comment on the bill. The hospital did, according to Pell, reverse the entire balance after

• maxerickson 9y ago
  I doubt it, hospitals were already required to make those prices available, the change is that they have to make them available on the internet. While hospitals are already required under guidelines developed by CMS to either make publicly available a list of their standard charges, or their policies for allowing the public to view a list of those charges upon request, CMS is updating its guidelines to specifically require that hospitals post this information. The agency is also seeking comment on what price transparency information stakeholders would find most useful and how best to help hospitals create patient-friendly interfaces to make it easier for consumers to access relevant health care data so they can more readily compare providers. One reason to doubt it is that an awful lot of people live within reasonable distance of 1 hospital, and almost everyone else lives near busy hospitals.
  • ceejayoz 9y ago
    > While hospitals are already required under guidelines developed by CMS to either make publicly available a list of their standard charges... This requirement is useless, though. The "standard charges" don't reflect reality. My wife receives regular infusions in an infusion center. They bill $3k to insurance each time. Insurance pays about $400, which the hospital happily accepts. That $3k number is what an uninsured patient would be asked to pay, and it's the number they'll list as the standard charge, but it's complete, invented bullshit.
    • maxerickson 9y ago
      The new requirement is the same in that regard. It's a good talking point though, several people in this thread are excited about the potential for it to bring about change.
      • jrs235 9y ago
        Will publishing prices just cause more price inflation though? Similar to what happened with CEO compensation when companies became more transparent about their compensation?
• evanelias 9y ago
  Hidden price-gouging is a real problem here. CarePoint Health, the company that operates this facility and a couple others nearby in Jersey City and Bayonne, has a reputation of consistently exorbitant ER bills, in addition to only accepting a limited set of insurance providers. On the other hand, Hoboken University Medical Center would have closed a decade ago if not purchased by CarePoint at the time. Prior to that acquisition, it was a non-profit community hospital for over 140 years -- it's the oldest hospital in the state, but it eventually hit severe financial difficulties. Today it has a good reputation in some areas, especially obstetrics. But as someone who lives a few blocks away, the poor reputation of its ER's billing practices is definitely worrisome. Disclosure: I worked at the same company as Jess Pell and vaguely recall hearing about this overbilling situation a while back, but that's far from the only time I've heard about this particular ER overbilling someone.