5 ms·

This would improve the negotiating position of some parties and harm that of others, but only slightly if at all. Most likely it will make hospitals less likel

This would improve the negotiating position of some parties and harm that of others, but only slightly if at all. Most likely it will make hospitals less likely to allow any single price to be negotiated too low. Consider that when negotiating a basket of goods, the buyer and seller may agree on a low price for item A and a high price for item B based on their own preferences, but this does not mean that they cared specifically about item A or B since the negotiation was over the basket. We see this all the time whenever products and services are bundled. The negotiation may result in some prices being lowered, but overall the seller has a lot of knobs to adjust to make the buyer happy. So all this will do is modify the negotiation slightly and possibly provoke some sensational headlines in the near term.

ma2rten 7y ago
It would create transparency. Over the long-term that means that prices will become more equal. The people who are paying the most (un-/underinsured) will be the ones who benefit the most.
- mc32 7y ago
  I think you’re right. I recall hearing about an exemplary case s few years back before ACA, Some guy was shopping around for, I think it was, hip surgery. It was opaque and took some effort but finally settled on some place in the south, possibly AL. It ended up being like a fifth of what his state’s hospitals would do if for. So, the short is, yes, transparency would help.
- wbl 7y ago
  Equal but higher. Hospitals will be able to tacitly coordinate on prices once they are all public.
  - t-writescode 7y ago
    Price-fixing is illegal.
    - wbl 7y ago
      Price fixing is illegal. Announcing your prices publically is not. "We'll match any price" is also not illegal.
JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
> this does not mean that they cared specifically about item A or B since the negotiation was over the basket. This explains why prices are some services surprisingly high, while others are more normal. We've all heard about the $100+ cup of Advil line item in a bill. I never had thought about health care pricing before in this context. I'm sure both the hospital and the insurance come into the negotiation with existing datasets about the frequency of goods/services are billed for. The hospital knows what it will receive in aggregate from the hospital given a set of line item prices for all of its offered goods/services; conversely, the insurance company would have a rough sense of what they'd be paying. You get the short end of the stick if you end up consuming a proportionally higher amount of goods/services that were negotiated arbitrarily high price end.
JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> all this will do is modify the negotiation slightly There are lots of procedures where consumers have time to shop around. Presently, nobody is incentivized to compete on (or advise to) price. With transparency, that changes.
- resters 7y ago
  > There are lots of procedures where consumers have time to shop around. I'd estimate this is 1% of healthcare spending.
cwkoss 7y ago
Perhaps medicine is a special sort of market where buyers shouldn't have to rely on negotiation to get a fair price.

ma2rten 7y ago

It would create transparency. Over the long-term that means that prices will become more equal. The people who are paying the most (un-/underinsured) will be the ones who benefit the most.

mc32 7y ago
I think you’re right. I recall hearing about an exemplary case s few years back before ACA, Some guy was shopping around for, I think it was, hip surgery. It was opaque and took some effort but finally settled on some place in the south, possibly AL. It ended up being like a fifth of what his state’s hospitals would do if for. So, the short is, yes, transparency would help.
wbl 7y ago
Equal but higher. Hospitals will be able to tacitly coordinate on prices once they are all public.
- t-writescode 7y ago
  Price-fixing is illegal.
  - wbl 7y ago
    Price fixing is illegal. Announcing your prices publically is not. "We'll match any price" is also not illegal.

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago

> this does not mean that they cared specifically about item A or B since the negotiation was over the basket. This explains why prices are some services surprisingly high, while others are more normal. We've all heard about the $100+ cup of Advil line item in a bill. I never had thought about health care pricing before in this context. I'm sure both the hospital and the insurance come into the negotiation with existing datasets about the frequency of goods/services are billed for. The hospital knows what it will receive in aggregate from the hospital given a set of line item prices for all of its offered goods/services; conversely, the insurance company would have a rough sense of what they'd be paying. You get the short end of the stick if you end up consuming a proportionally higher amount of goods/services that were negotiated arbitrarily high price end.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago

> all this will do is modify the negotiation slightly There are lots of procedures where consumers have time to shop around. Presently, nobody is incentivized to compete on (or advise to) price. With transparency, that changes.

resters 7y ago
> There are lots of procedures where consumers have time to shop around. I'd estimate this is 1% of healthcare spending.

cwkoss 7y ago

Perhaps medicine is a special sort of market where buyers shouldn't have to rely on negotiation to get a fair price.