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Where do you think these cartels get their power? Does the clinic post their prices online? Do they provide estimates on what care will cost before it happens
by dantheman 5y ago
Where do you think these cartels get their power? Does the clinic post their prices online? Do they provide estimates on what care will cost before it happens? If insurance is costly and troublesome can you compete on a cost basis?
- mumblemumble 5y agoPosting prices online is infeasible because the system has been structured such that the price is different for everyone, depending not only on which health insurance company they use, if any, but also on which of that particular company's plans they have. And it's ever-shifting. Maintaining an online price sheet that is even accurate, let alone navigable, would only be feasible for large corporate entities, so expecting something like that to happen would only further advantage the oligarchy and undermine what remains of the free market in this sector. But what you can absolutely do is call and ask. Assuming you have the time to do so, of course. Urgent care does have a distressing tendency to be urgent. And it is wise to do so when you can. For a really pedestrian example, it's worth asking your pharmacist about the retail price of a drug before paying. If the retail price is lower than your prescription plan's copay - something that happens quite often - then there's no sense putting it on your insurance. And no, I don't think it's the pharmacist's job to keep track of that. The elephant in the room in this discussion is that American culture already does way too much shitting on service industry workers. We need less of that, not more.