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> The service and technology gets better while the price continues to go down. What did you think the farmer who was charged $6,589.77 for 6 stitches might hav

> The service and technology gets better while the price continues to go down. What did you think the farmer who was charged $6,589.77 for 6 stitches might have to say about that proposition?

willcipriano 5y ago
"I wish stitches were done on a fee for service model like shooting lasers into people's eyes is."
- JshWright 5y ago
  That was still a FFS model. The difference is whether the procedure is typically covered by insurance.
  - willcipriano 5y ago
    I don't see how it's fee for service if nobody can tell you what it's going to cost upfront.
    - JshWright 5y ago
      The uncertainty comes from not knowing exactly what services will be performed, who will be performing them, and how much the insurance company will cover (which has a ton of variables, many of which aren't known until everything is settled). In my opinion, getting away from the fee for service model is one of the routes we ought to be taking to address healthcare spending in the US (if you're charging per service, you're incentivized to perform as many services as possible in a given encounter).
      - willcipriano 5y ago
        In other professions if you make a bid and fail to capture required work, you eat it generally speaking. Contractors, many of whom are small businesses or individuals, do this all the time. They also give estimates like "If we find mold behind the wall, it will be an extra ten thousand". Medicine is also odd in that you have to pay for the doctors mistake. If the doctor prescribes a less effective drug, it has no effect and then after doing your own research find a better drug and get the doctor to prescribe that instead. You still have to pay for the first visit. If a plumber decides to go from plastic to copper pipe mid job, he doesn't get paid for the work he ripped out. Multi billion dollar hospital groups, full of highly educated professionals apparently can't pull this off but the guy who poops in a bucket on the job site can.
        gus_massa 5y ago
        The most insane part are the out of network professionals. It's like you have a deal with the plumber to fix tout kitchen for $100. But in the middle of the fix, you hear a surprise ring in a front door and it's a helper of the plumber that comes an does something. And the next day the plumber notifies you that you must pay an additional $500 for the other guy.
    - jac241 5y ago
      The hospital is reimbursed on a fee for service basis. Most (all?) countries use a fee for service model, but most countries also don't have for-profit payers that are incentivized to drive up the cost of care.
OJFord 5y ago
GP is talking about: > any healthcare procedure that is not typically covered by insurance Which I (not American) assume stitches in the emergency room are.
- wombatmobile 5y ago
  Yeah that doesn’t preclude the farmer from having an opinion about the proposition. Why do you think this discrepancy occurs?
  - avianlyric 5y ago
    Sure the farmer can have an opinion, but I’m not sure how > who was charged $6,589.77 for 6 stitches is relevant when OP was talking about procedures NOT covered by insurance.

> The service and technology gets better while the price continues to go down. What did you think the farmer who was charged $6,589.77 for 6 stitches might have to say about that proposition?

willcipriano 5y ago

"I wish stitches were done on a fee for service model like shooting lasers into people's eyes is."

JshWright 5y ago
That was still a FFS model. The difference is whether the procedure is typically covered by insurance.
- willcipriano 5y ago
  I don't see how it's fee for service if nobody can tell you what it's going to cost upfront.
  - JshWright 5y ago
    The uncertainty comes from not knowing exactly what services will be performed, who will be performing them, and how much the insurance company will cover (which has a ton of variables, many of which aren't known until everything is settled). In my opinion, getting away from the fee for service model is one of the routes we ought to be taking to address healthcare spending in the US (if you're charging per service, you're incentivized to perform as many services as possible in a given encounter).
    - willcipriano 5y ago
      In other professions if you make a bid and fail to capture required work, you eat it generally speaking. Contractors, many of whom are small businesses or individuals, do this all the time. They also give estimates like "If we find mold behind the wall, it will be an extra ten thousand". Medicine is also odd in that you have to pay for the doctors mistake. If the doctor prescribes a less effective drug, it has no effect and then after doing your own research find a better drug and get the doctor to prescribe that instead. You still have to pay for the first visit. If a plumber decides to go from plastic to copper pipe mid job, he doesn't get paid for the work he ripped out. Multi billion dollar hospital groups, full of highly educated professionals apparently can't pull this off but the guy who poops in a bucket on the job site can.
      - gus_massa 5y ago
        The most insane part are the out of network professionals. It's like you have a deal with the plumber to fix tout kitchen for $100. But in the middle of the fix, you hear a surprise ring in a front door and it's a helper of the plumber that comes an does something. And the next day the plumber notifies you that you must pay an additional $500 for the other guy.
  - jac241 5y ago
    The hospital is reimbursed on a fee for service basis. Most (all?) countries use a fee for service model, but most countries also don't have for-profit payers that are incentivized to drive up the cost of care.

OJFord 5y ago

GP is talking about: > any healthcare procedure that is not typically covered by insurance Which I (not American) assume stitches in the emergency room are.

wombatmobile 5y ago
Yeah that doesn’t preclude the farmer from having an opinion about the proposition. Why do you think this discrepancy occurs?
- avianlyric 5y ago
  Sure the farmer can have an opinion, but I’m not sure how > who was charged $6,589.77 for 6 stitches is relevant when OP was talking about procedures NOT covered by insurance.