3 ms·

> that they're willing to sign a contract allowing someone to charge them any amount to be decided at a later date? Hilarious to try to blame the US's broken m

> that they're willing to sign a contract allowing someone to charge them any amount to be decided at a later date? Hilarious to try to blame the US's broken medical system on the victim. If you've ever had any medical procedure done then you've done this thing that you consider so reprehensible. If you've ever been seriously injured you've done this (your consent to any price charged is presumed while you are unconscious, by law). If the hospital walks 5 specialists quickly through the room while you're out cold, congratulations, you legally consented to pay any price they charge. Come on. It's a ludicrous system. Don't even try to blame the victims here.

_heimdall 2y ago
I'm not blaming it on the victim at all. Are you saying what I described is inaccurate or just not fair to patients? If the latter, we totally agree. My view is that the system is fundamentally broken and continuing to just try to help patients deal with fraud after the fact isn't the right solution. In this case, allowing the fraud to continue and only hiding it from credit reports just makes it worse for us as consumers. We need to stop band-aiding the problem and fix the medical system. They obviously shouldn't be allowed to decide to charge whatever they want after the work is done, and they shouldn't be able to game it by running multiple specialists through just to rack up fees. There are actually ways around it today, but the hospital will hate you. When signing intake forms that have you agreeing to this payment model, cross out the terms you do to agree to and include "Under Duress" with your signature. Raise this with the hospital staff and make it clear what terms you disagree with, including that you must approve every individual treatment. They won't like you, or they may 100% respect you, but it is legal to do.

_heimdall 2y ago

I'm not blaming it on the victim at all. Are you saying what I described is inaccurate or just not fair to patients? If the latter, we totally agree. My view is that the system is fundamentally broken and continuing to just try to help patients deal with fraud after the fact isn't the right solution. In this case, allowing the fraud to continue and only hiding it from credit reports just makes it worse for us as consumers. We need to stop band-aiding the problem and fix the medical system. They obviously shouldn't be allowed to decide to charge whatever they want after the work is done, and they shouldn't be able to game it by running multiple specialists through just to rack up fees. There are actually ways around it today, but the hospital will hate you. When signing intake forms that have you agreeing to this payment model, cross out the terms you do to agree to and include "Under Duress" with your signature. Raise this with the hospital staff and make it clear what terms you disagree with, including that you must approve every individual treatment. They won't like you, or they may 100% respect you, but it is legal to do.