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> allows competition at the market rate What market rate? For-profit hospitals mark up prices by more than 1,000 percent because there's nothing to stop them:

> allows competition at the market rate What market rate? For-profit hospitals mark up prices by more than 1,000 percent because there's nothing to stop them: https://publicintegrity.org/health/for-profit-hospitals-mark-up-prices-by-more-than-1000-percent-because-theres-nothing-to-stop-them/ https://publicintegrity.org/health/for-profit-hospitals-mark... What kind of market does not allow me, the customer, to know, at all, what my financial liability is? What kind of market has players mark up prices by more than 1,000 percent because there's nothing to stop them? That's no market - that's extortion, plain and simple. > I'll get on repealing Medicare, EMTALA, and now Balance Billing legislation The EMTALA has been unfunded for decades. Hospitals bill $50k for a sprained ankle, write it off after they harass a patient to pay $5k for it, claim the $45k as a loss and pay $0 in corporate taxes because of all these "losses". Hospitals support the EMTALA because they get these large write offs and federal, state support. Not because of the warmth in their hearts. Balance Billing? As long as we are talking about unethical principles, why don't we talk about withholding all cash funds that patients walk in with as a "security deposit" and deduct $150 of it as "handling fees"? After all, they sat down on the chairs, enjoyed the AC, watched the TV - none of this is free you know. > insurers honest Let your patients worry about their insurers. Your patients, more often than not give the insurers a very hard time, for troubles unlikely caused by the insurance company in the first place. The insurance company happens to collect the money they summarily dispatch to providers and drug companies: the business model they follow actually gains from them reducing their premiums, which they would very much like to, if they could. Infact, the ACA has capped the amount of profit an insurance company can make which has reduced their interest in negotiating better provider rates. Here's a diagram from a very detailed post I wrote: https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d68aea3ca1e466f166752e261b9e28d3 https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d68aea3ca1e466f166752e... https://www.quora.com/Why-is-private-healthcare-in-the-US-so-expensive/answer/Subhobroto-Sinha-1 https://www.quora.com/Why-is-private-healthcare-in-the-US-so...

riahi 7y ago
EMTALA is precisely the problem. We cannot ask for any money before seeing the patient; nor can we ask for a deposit. Further, we are medicolegally liable for all care we provide even if we don't get a dime. That was the original intent of going out of network; we'd tell the patients "we don't accept your insurance because we could not come to an agreement; if you'd like to continue, we can see you but it will be billed to you. We'd appreciate you telling them you want to see us as a subscriber" However, with the corporatization of medicine, the individual decision making has been lost.
- ikiris 7y ago
  What the hell do you think the alternative is to EMTALA? Asking the heart attack victim to wait while you run their credit?
- ericd 7y ago
  Do you offer a price list to the out of network patient you tell that to? Or perhaps a quote for the services before you perform them?
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    Haggling in the emergency room doesn't even sound that terrible to me compared to the reality, which is a stark ultimatum - if you want to be treated, it's a blank check.

riahi 7y ago

EMTALA is precisely the problem. We cannot ask for any money before seeing the patient; nor can we ask for a deposit. Further, we are medicolegally liable for all care we provide even if we don't get a dime. That was the original intent of going out of network; we'd tell the patients "we don't accept your insurance because we could not come to an agreement; if you'd like to continue, we can see you but it will be billed to you. We'd appreciate you telling them you want to see us as a subscriber" However, with the corporatization of medicine, the individual decision making has been lost.

ikiris 7y ago
What the hell do you think the alternative is to EMTALA? Asking the heart attack victim to wait while you run their credit?
ericd 7y ago
Do you offer a price list to the out of network patient you tell that to? Or perhaps a quote for the services before you perform them?
- perl4ever 7y ago
  Haggling in the emergency room doesn't even sound that terrible to me compared to the reality, which is a stark ultimatum - if you want to be treated, it's a blank check.