2 ms·

> which is law, but forced disclosure. Hospitals should have to disclosure full costs and breakdown to insurance and to you for procedures before actions are ta

by Spivak 2y ago

> which is law, but forced disclosure. Hospitals should have to disclosure full costs and breakdown to insurance and to you for procedures before actions are taken Fun fact, this is already the law. The price of your appendectomy will be $2000-$80000, does that help? Your insurance will also tell you that an appendectomy costs $14 if you get it done out of network and so that's all they're paying.

endisneigh 2y ago
Which law is this (in the United States), and a range is not indicative of how much you actually will pay.
- Spivak 2y ago
  It was added by the Affordable Care Act. https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/hospital-price-transparency https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/hospital-pric... https://www.cms.gov/files/document/hospital-price-transparency-frequently-asked-questions.pdf https://www.cms.gov/files/document/hospital-price-transparen... Hospitals responded by giving quotes with stupidly wide ranges like this -- "your medical procedure will cost.. let me check here, an amount of money." The reason for this does actually make sense but is still impossible to plan around. Hospitals bill for the work they actually do, not "here's the all-inclusive price for an appendectomy" and so they won't/can't say in advance how much it will cost until they do it. They can guess with things like "the average price" but it's still a guess. Once you leave the world of "necessary" medical care you start to see all-inclusive pricing again because folks are paying for it themselves. You will get an actual price for a nose-job. However this is a bit of a lie because they also require you to have insurance for complications which goes back to a la carte billing so it's better but still not ideal. It's a big ole game of "nobody wants the risk."
  - endisneigh 2y ago
    That’s the transparency I alluded to, but disclosure is not forced, and as you mention the values are disambiguated and not standardized. Plenty of room for improvement.

by Spivak 2y ago

endisneigh 2y ago

Which law is this (in the United States), and a range is not indicative of how much you actually will pay.

Spivak 2y ago
It was added by the Affordable Care Act. https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/hospital-price-transparency https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/hospital-pric... https://www.cms.gov/files/document/hospital-price-transparency-frequently-asked-questions.pdf https://www.cms.gov/files/document/hospital-price-transparen... Hospitals responded by giving quotes with stupidly wide ranges like this -- "your medical procedure will cost.. let me check here, an amount of money." The reason for this does actually make sense but is still impossible to plan around. Hospitals bill for the work they actually do, not "here's the all-inclusive price for an appendectomy" and so they won't/can't say in advance how much it will cost until they do it. They can guess with things like "the average price" but it's still a guess. Once you leave the world of "necessary" medical care you start to see all-inclusive pricing again because folks are paying for it themselves. You will get an actual price for a nose-job. However this is a bit of a lie because they also require you to have insurance for complications which goes back to a la carte billing so it's better but still not ideal. It's a big ole game of "nobody wants the risk."
- endisneigh 2y ago
  That’s the transparency I alluded to, but disclosure is not forced, and as you mention the values are disambiguated and not standardized. Plenty of room for improvement.