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How can you do an upfront pricing for emergency situations?

FireBeyond 3y ago
Wait til you hear about how United Healthcare was sued for not covering Lifeflight flights from car accidents because "no preauthorization was obtained"...
- YeBanKo 3y ago
  Can you link to a good source for this story?
Danjoe4 3y ago
You can't, but the vast majority of US healthcare expenses are routine/primary care. If we have price transparency, then price sensitive individuals seeking routine care will drive prices down to a reasonable cost. Many emergency treatments are used in non-emergency situations, and charging a wildly different rate would certainly violate some price gouging law. The debate around US healthcare often misses the point. We all agree it is too expensive. The next question we should ask is: how much does it cost? And the answer is we don't know. That is fundamentally an issue, because price discovery cannot occur if the price is unknown. Our current healthcare system is not a failure of capitalism; it is anti-capitalist. Collusion between big insurance, big pharma, and hospitals have captured the system. We need robust price transparency legislation.
- YeBanKo 3y ago
  I support price transparency legislation, but I don't think that this is what is going to solve the healthcare affordability. This is a monopoly by design, price transparency is good for markets that are more open to shopping around.
marcus0x62 3y ago
Since 1986 in the United States, for all practical purposes, you don't. You provide stabilizing treatment before inquiring as to the patient's ability to pay[0]. Like most [1] significant [2] healthcare legislation in the US, this was passed via budget reconciliation. 0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_an... 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Omnibus_Budget_Reconciliation_Act_of_1985 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Omnibus_Budget_Re... 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Care_and_Education_Reconciliation_Act_of_2010 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Care_and_Education_Reco...
Arrath 3y ago
Loved the $1,200 bag of saline the EMT squirted into my eyes because I expressed concern about debris being in them after a crash in which my side window exploded into my face.

Wait til you hear about how United Healthcare was sued for not covering Lifeflight flights from car accidents because "no preauthorization was obtained"...

YeBanKo 3y ago
Can you link to a good source for this story?

Danjoe4 3y ago

You can't, but the vast majority of US healthcare expenses are routine/primary care. If we have price transparency, then price sensitive individuals seeking routine care will drive prices down to a reasonable cost. Many emergency treatments are used in non-emergency situations, and charging a wildly different rate would certainly violate some price gouging law. The debate around US healthcare often misses the point. We all agree it is too expensive. The next question we should ask is: how much does it cost? And the answer is we don't know. That is fundamentally an issue, because price discovery cannot occur if the price is unknown. Our current healthcare system is not a failure of capitalism; it is anti-capitalist. Collusion between big insurance, big pharma, and hospitals have captured the system. We need robust price transparency legislation.

YeBanKo 3y ago
I support price transparency legislation, but I don't think that this is what is going to solve the healthcare affordability. This is a monopoly by design, price transparency is good for markets that are more open to shopping around.

marcus0x62 3y ago

Since 1986 in the United States, for all practical purposes, you don't. You provide stabilizing treatment before inquiring as to the patient's ability to pay[0]. Like most [1] significant [2] healthcare legislation in the US, this was passed via budget reconciliation. 0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_an... 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Omnibus_Budget_Reconciliation_Act_of_1985 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Omnibus_Budget_Re... 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Care_and_Education_Reconciliation_Act_of_2010 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Care_and_Education_Reco...

Arrath 3y ago

Loved the $1,200 bag of saline the EMT squirted into my eyes because I expressed concern about debris being in them after a crash in which my side window exploded into my face.