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How about everyone gets to bill through the hospital instead of every person who tangentially heard of you one way or another sending you their own bill. If the
by lutorm 8y ago
How about everyone gets to bill through the hospital instead of every person who tangentially heard of you one way or another sending you their own bill. If the hospital is in-network, they bill based on in-network rates, and all those "providers" can take up their bill with the hospital (who at least knows they're there, unlike the patient).
- smelendez 8y agoThis seems like a reasonable solution. It's basically how we handle telecom and utility billing.
- MBCook 8y agoHell, it’s how we handle restaurant billing.
- nraynaud 8y agolet's talk about the tip again?
- mcny 8y agoIf it is mandatory, it is not a tip. My old boss told me how he was at a dinner with our Australian overlords (long story) and they said nobody will leave any tip. If a tip is mandatory, it is a service charge. I don't go to the extreme of never tipping but I usually do not tip if the bill has an itemized service charge. Services that are "out of network" are not optional. (warning: may make you angry) https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/us/drive-by-doctoring-surprise-medical-bills.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/us/drive-by-doctoring-sur... (2014) archive fo: https://archive.fo/TBmrO https://archive.fo/TBmrO screenshot https://screenshotscdn.firefoxusercontent.com/images/adb38500-3a76-4648-985d-c2059221d966.jpg https://screenshotscdn.firefoxusercontent.com/images/adb3850...
- jjeaff 8y agoWhen there is an itemized service charge, tipping is rarely expected. It is an option, but not expected.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoYet there always seems to be a space for it, or a step to skip. Sure makes it seem expected when it's not simply leaving bills on the table before you leave.
- MBCook 8y agoIf it fixes all other medical billing, I am OK with doctors office is asking me for an optional tip based on how good I think the service is. That would be LIGHTYEARS easier to understand than what currently exists.
- arcticbull 8y agoFriendly reminder, those things are optional, and not human rights.
- jedmeyers 8y agoBeing provided healthcare is a “human right”? Sounds more like forced labor to me.
- arcticbull 8y agoThat's absurd. Nobody in any OECD country where healthcare is a human right is required by law to practice medicine. People do it as a public service, because they care. No doctor in Canada has a whip behind them as they apply bandaids. In fact, it's absurdly difficult to get into medical school in Canada, but people do it anyways because it's a mid-six-figure good job. That people who are sick are entitled to healthcare via voluntary labor is in violation of nobody's rights and you know it. Not even Canada's furthest-right-wing parties advocate privatizing healthcare. They don't even talk about it. Because Canadians know that fully private healthcare is a shit system. Healthcare as a right is your freedom to pursue your life regardless of the circumstances of your birth. It's the ultimate freedom - the freedom from worry, from illness, from bankruptcy. Freedom to pursue your own business or being an independent contractor without fear of death. Your "slavery with extra steps" argument is long dead. Maybe read this? From 2009. [1] [1] https://www.pri.org/stories/2009-10-15/canadian-health-care-its-their-right https://www.pri.org/stories/2009-10-15/canadian-health-care-...
- zo1 8y agoIt's forced labor in that the state takes the proceeds of some of your labor in order to pay those doctors to treat others. I.e. Taxes. No one is saying that doctors are put into work-camps or threatened into working.
- arcticbull 8y agoOh, I see - so are you suggesting the interstate system, the fire department, the post office, the public school system, the water pipes, electricity, gas, medicare, medicaid, the army, every regulatory body, and so on are all forced labor? If so, great, count me in. It feels like an entirely arbitrary place to draw the line to say you support public education and the fire department but not public health. If you support neither, well, the dark ages are that way. Literally because the power grid is socialized. Either way, nobody's forced to work. Neither you, nor your doctor.
- maxxxxx 8y agoI have read that hospitals actually tell providers to not be in network so they can make more money.
- ChristianBundy 8y agoI've never hears of anything like this, where can I learn more?
- ip26 8y agoI don't know about his allegation, but if you are seen at an in-network hospital by an out-of-network doctor, you pay out-of-network. Even if you were unconscious, anesthetized, etc.
- ChristianBundy 8y agoRight, I'm moreso curious about the validity of the conspiracy theory.
- arcticbull 8y agoHow about the state gets a bill for everyone and the risk is distributed over the population minimizing the cost and improving efficiency? This happens by maximizing the risk pool size and eliminating waste from marketing and executive compensation (and the claims denial department). This happens to also incentivize the state to ensure everyone gets the preventative care they need, and line up incentives re: legislation (for instance around cigarettes and alcohol). Then we can call it “what every other civilized country does.”
- tomp 8y agoHow do you then provide higher-quality but more expensive healthcare to those who can afford it?
- limbicsystem 8y agoIt's pretty simple: https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/ https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/ https://www.bupa.co.uk/ https://www.bupa.co.uk/
- tomp 8y agoBut then you can’t have “everyone is charged the same” which some posters were suggesting... basically all I’m saying is that “just public” is barely better than “just private” - ideally you’d have a reasonable mix (with, of course, full transparency of prices, ratings, quality control etc.)
- arcticbull 8y agoHow is it barely better than 'just private'? WHO rankings show that not to be true (the US is 36th at $7500 per capita spend, Canada's single-payer system is 30th at $3600 per capita spend, the UK's 'single-payer' system is 18th, Spain's single-payer system is 7th). The reality is that if you're attempting to minimize illness and suffering, doing that at a larger scale is always strictly better than restricting it to those who are lucky enough to be able to pay. You can of course optimize further but single payer is strictly better than private cover. Two-tier is another valid solution.