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There is a good system - that works for insured patients. It’s the uninsured that get hosed NY Times talks about list prices but that price isn’t even used by

• sofixa 2y ago
  > There is a good system - that works for insured patients Does it? I've read plenty of horror stories of people getting denied treatment by insurance, or paying tons of money for insurance barely covering anything. And more broadly, how much money is wasted on multiple layers of beyond useless middlemen? How much money do hospitals spend on admin and billing departments dealing with this bullshit? Strong "No Way to Prevent This, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens" vibes.
• ffgjgf1 2y ago
  How is it good? How do the insured benefit from the complete lack of price transparency besides having to pay significantly higher premiums than they would otherwise?
  • refurb 2y ago
    Because the insurance company don’t pay list price, they pay the negotiated rate. The patient doesn’t pay list or net price they pay the co-pay. There doesn’t need to be price transparency. It’s like auto-insurance - do you need to know the negotiated rate for your collision repair? No, you just pay your deductible and move on. The list price is irrelevant to the insurer and the patient.
    • ffgjgf1 2y ago
      It leads to unnecessary inefficiencies. e.g. different insurance companies might end up paying different prices which affects premiums. Insurance companies are inherently incentivized to maximize their costs which is one of the (if not the) biggest flaws of the US healthcare system. Other countries which have entirely privatized systems (even to a larger degree than the US) like the Netherlands solve the by directly regulating prices.