7 ms·

We need price transparency! Went to a quick care the other day because of a flu that would not go away, was seen and diagnosed with bronchitis in less than 5 m

We need price transparency! Went to a quick care the other day because of a flu that would not go away, was seen and diagnosed with bronchitis in less than 5 minutes. The quick care billed my insurance $1,840, which they talked down to $300, and had me pay $115. What?

skolos 7y ago
This kind of stuff is even more ridiculous with higher cost procedures: course of radiation therapy to treat cancer - in network hospital sends bill for more than $1m, insurance pays about $3k, bills nothing to patient.
swebs 7y ago
Crazy, that's the price you would have paid at Minute Clinic without insurance. https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists
- KukicAdnan 7y ago
  Yep. I don't mind paying the $116, but the disparity in pricing is so ridiculous. It's like throwing darts at a board and saying "Pay us this much"
  - marklabedz 7y ago
    Which is why my first response to almost any medical invoice, is "Would you take ["total"]*0.5 to settle the bill?"
    - sobani 7y ago
      From what I've understood from /r/personalfinance, you can probably get away with an initial offer of 5-10% of the billed price.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    The "discounts" shown on my explanations of benefits are absurd. My current record is a 94% "discount" from list price for a particular test.
topicseed 7y ago
From the UK. Health care cost stories in the US seem incredibly dreadful. Hard to grasp how a huge power like the US can't get itself around decently-priced healthcare.
- madamelic 7y ago
  >Hard to grasp how a huge power like the US can't get itself around decently-priced healthcare. To be honest, it's not that hard to figure out. The US gov't largely believes itself is ineffective and needs to be privatized and ran like a business. Private businesses are held up as beacons of innovation and efficiency without the "red tape" the gov't has due to purposefully created checks, balances and regulations. Hence why we elected a CEO, albeit a massive failure of one, but a CEO regardless.
  - sol_remmy2 7y ago
    > The US gov't largely believes itself is ineffective and needs to be privatized and ran like a business. Private businesses are held up as beacons of innovation and efficiency without the "red tape" the gov't has due to purposefully created checks, balances and regulations. The medical system is really not private. It is a hybrid of a state-controlled system and a capitalistic system. Here are some ways of how the system is state-controlled: 1. Hospitals cannot be freely constructed. One must apply for a "certificate of need" to gain permission from the government to build a hospital. This is not a free market. 2. Credentialism is BAD in our medical system. There is only one group of people approved by the government to do prescribe most medications and perform most surgeries - doctors. This is not a free market and greatly increase costs. Doctors earn a median of 300k/year and are the highest paid profession in every state. This is not a free market. 3. Hospitals are legally forced to treat anyone who shows up at their door - even if they can't afford the treatment. This is not a free market. 4. Medicare/Medicaid are forced to nearly buy any drug, regardless of cost, if it could save a live. Even if a drug is 500k/year, the system is forced to buy it. This is not a free market and greatly increases costs.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
wil421 7y ago
My wife had a baby in September and had to return after one night home for high blood pressure. Total bill $55k. After insurance it was $6k. We paid $250 out of pocket.
refurb 7y ago
I know the stories abound, but I had an MRI done at UCSF that they billed $18,000 for. I think insurance paid $15,000. There are multiple, standalone private MRI clinics in the US that will do the same MRI for $1,500. Really UCSF? You’re a part of the problem.

skolos 7y ago

This kind of stuff is even more ridiculous with higher cost procedures: course of radiation therapy to treat cancer - in network hospital sends bill for more than $1m, insurance pays about $3k, bills nothing to patient.

swebs 7y ago

Crazy, that's the price you would have paid at Minute Clinic without insurance. https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists

KukicAdnan 7y ago
Yep. I don't mind paying the $116, but the disparity in pricing is so ridiculous. It's like throwing darts at a board and saying "Pay us this much"
- marklabedz 7y ago
  Which is why my first response to almost any medical invoice, is "Would you take ["total"]*0.5 to settle the bill?"
  - sobani 7y ago
    From what I've understood from /r/personalfinance, you can probably get away with an initial offer of 5-10% of the billed price.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  The "discounts" shown on my explanations of benefits are absurd. My current record is a 94% "discount" from list price for a particular test.

topicseed 7y ago

From the UK. Health care cost stories in the US seem incredibly dreadful. Hard to grasp how a huge power like the US can't get itself around decently-priced healthcare.

madamelic 7y ago
>Hard to grasp how a huge power like the US can't get itself around decently-priced healthcare. To be honest, it's not that hard to figure out. The US gov't largely believes itself is ineffective and needs to be privatized and ran like a business. Private businesses are held up as beacons of innovation and efficiency without the "red tape" the gov't has due to purposefully created checks, balances and regulations. Hence why we elected a CEO, albeit a massive failure of one, but a CEO regardless.
- sol_remmy2 7y ago
  > The US gov't largely believes itself is ineffective and needs to be privatized and ran like a business. Private businesses are held up as beacons of innovation and efficiency without the "red tape" the gov't has due to purposefully created checks, balances and regulations. The medical system is really not private. It is a hybrid of a state-controlled system and a capitalistic system. Here are some ways of how the system is state-controlled: 1. Hospitals cannot be freely constructed. One must apply for a "certificate of need" to gain permission from the government to build a hospital. This is not a free market. 2. Credentialism is BAD in our medical system. There is only one group of people approved by the government to do prescribe most medications and perform most surgeries - doctors. This is not a free market and greatly increase costs. Doctors earn a median of 300k/year and are the highest paid profession in every state. This is not a free market. 3. Hospitals are legally forced to treat anyone who shows up at their door - even if they can't afford the treatment. This is not a free market. 4. Medicare/Medicaid are forced to nearly buy any drug, regardless of cost, if it could save a live. Even if a drug is 500k/year, the system is forced to buy it. This is not a free market and greatly increases costs.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

wil421 7y ago

My wife had a baby in September and had to return after one night home for high blood pressure. Total bill $55k. After insurance it was $6k. We paid $250 out of pocket.

refurb 7y ago

I know the stories abound, but I had an MRI done at UCSF that they billed $18,000 for. I think insurance paid $15,000. There are multiple, standalone private MRI clinics in the US that will do the same MRI for $1,500. Really UCSF? You’re a part of the problem.