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>leverage if you're already in collections I suppose. What about before you undergo the medical services? Why is it so damn uncommon to ask for a price before

>leverage if you're already in collections I suppose. What about before you undergo the medical services? Why is it so damn uncommon to ask for a price before seeing the doctor?

kube-system 5y ago
> Why is it so damn uncommon to ask for a price before seeing the doctor? The main reason is that, often, the doctor is choosing the specific procedures after you show up, not before. There's not a price for "stomache ache". For the elective procedures where it is known what is involved up-front, there is some price shopping that does happen.
- hammock 5y ago
  There is a price for office consult. And when the doctor says, "I'm going to order a blood test," or "I'm going to clean your ear out" or whatever, you can ask them to have it priced out before they do it. People ought to know that.
projektfu 5y ago
Insurance has driven a market where the pricing is opaque. The doctors are trained to req services without concern for money and the billing office reconciles it with the insurance bean counters. Imagine choosing doctors like plumbers. Do you go with the one with the low initial exam fee? How about the one your family member recommended? Or the one with good reviews on the internet? Then, when they tell you the plan, do you go to another one and pay their exam fee to find out their plan? I have some experience at this from the veterinary side. Some people do treat us like plumbers. They know there are several points of leverage in the pricing. However, it is a two edged sword. If you decline the plan and renegotiate it, the vet is liable to stop recommending the expensive options because you are more focused on money than health. This happens unconsciously. If you decline a $20 diagnostic after a half hour of haggling I won't have time or energy to try to convince you to spring for a $100 monthly treatment when an inferior but acceptable treatment is available for less. I'll present both options and you will probably choose the inferior one as part of your haggling strategy. Haggling makes lots of sense when the quality of the commodity is not under control of the salesperson, it is easy to determine, and the salesperson pads your price with lots of margin. In medicine, everything is opaque and haggling is rarely able to take a broad cut on price without sacrificing quality.

>leverage if you're already in collections I suppose. What about before you undergo the medical services? Why is it so damn uncommon to ask for a price before seeing the doctor?

kube-system 5y ago

> Why is it so damn uncommon to ask for a price before seeing the doctor? The main reason is that, often, the doctor is choosing the specific procedures after you show up, not before. There's not a price for "stomache ache". For the elective procedures where it is known what is involved up-front, there is some price shopping that does happen.

hammock 5y ago
There is a price for office consult. And when the doctor says, "I'm going to order a blood test," or "I'm going to clean your ear out" or whatever, you can ask them to have it priced out before they do it. People ought to know that.

projektfu 5y ago

Insurance has driven a market where the pricing is opaque. The doctors are trained to req services without concern for money and the billing office reconciles it with the insurance bean counters. Imagine choosing doctors like plumbers. Do you go with the one with the low initial exam fee? How about the one your family member recommended? Or the one with good reviews on the internet? Then, when they tell you the plan, do you go to another one and pay their exam fee to find out their plan? I have some experience at this from the veterinary side. Some people do treat us like plumbers. They know there are several points of leverage in the pricing. However, it is a two edged sword. If you decline the plan and renegotiate it, the vet is liable to stop recommending the expensive options because you are more focused on money than health. This happens unconsciously. If you decline a $20 diagnostic after a half hour of haggling I won't have time or energy to try to convince you to spring for a $100 monthly treatment when an inferior but acceptable treatment is available for less. I'll present both options and you will probably choose the inferior one as part of your haggling strategy. Haggling makes lots of sense when the quality of the commodity is not under control of the salesperson, it is easy to determine, and the salesperson pads your price with lots of margin. In medicine, everything is opaque and haggling is rarely able to take a broad cut on price without sacrificing quality.