2 ms·

OK. So...you were presented a number, but you can't depend on the number, and therefore my question stands: how do you shop for a cheaper option?

by timr 1y ago

lukeschlather 1y ago
Any sort of repair is inherently unpredictable, and healthcare especially so. Whenever I pay for something like this it's natural that the costs may prove more than what I expect. The risk that there is some irregularity with my insurance is similar, it's a risk that I take when I pay for a procedure. You can't depend that money spent on healthcare will help you in any way, it's a fact of life. I mean, in this case I actually was able to depend on the numbers, it's just I can't depend on my insurance but then that's also a fact of insurance markets. Take away the insurance, I doubt my total cost would've been lower, even accounting for my insurance premiums and whatever my employer pays as part of that. There's a market here, I would prefer it were more regulated, not less. A less regulated market would not help me. A less regulated market would make it easier for prices to change at random.
- timr 1y ago
  > Any sort of repair is inherently unpredictable, and healthcare especially so. There are certainly acute situations that are unpredictable -- go to the ER with a gunshot wound, and nobody can tell you what it's going to cost. That's fine. But most of the time, you're wrong. Health care moves slowly, and there's lots of time to think and plan. The costs of pretty much any procedure is pre-negotiated by the insurer and the provider, so they actually do know what it's going to cost. They just don't tell you. There's no fundamental reason you couldn't have been quoted an accurate price in the scenario you described.
  - lukeschlather 1y ago
    > But most of the time, you're wrong. Health care moves slowly, and there's lots of time to think and plan. The costs of pretty much any procedure is pre-negotiated by the insurer and the provider, so they actually do know what it's going to cost. They just don't tell you. I received an itemized bill with the exact cost and what would be covered listed, then it changed after the fact. It is certainly the case that for some procedures you can't get this, but for procedures where you know the cost will be hundreds you can easily obtain such a bill. Such bills always involve guesswork though. Even absent insurance this would be true, complications happen.

OK. So...you were presented a number, but you can't depend on the number, and therefore my question stands: how do you shop for a cheaper option?

by timr 1y ago

OK. So...you were presented a number, but you can't depend on the number, and therefore my question stands: how do you shop for a cheaper option?

lukeschlather 1y ago

Any sort of repair is inherently unpredictable, and healthcare especially so. Whenever I pay for something like this it's natural that the costs may prove more than what I expect. The risk that there is some irregularity with my insurance is similar, it's a risk that I take when I pay for a procedure. You can't depend that money spent on healthcare will help you in any way, it's a fact of life. I mean, in this case I actually was able to depend on the numbers, it's just I can't depend on my insurance but then that's also a fact of insurance markets. Take away the insurance, I doubt my total cost would've been lower, even accounting for my insurance premiums and whatever my employer pays as part of that. There's a market here, I would prefer it were more regulated, not less. A less regulated market would not help me. A less regulated market would make it easier for prices to change at random.

timr 1y ago
> Any sort of repair is inherently unpredictable, and healthcare especially so. There are certainly acute situations that are unpredictable -- go to the ER with a gunshot wound, and nobody can tell you what it's going to cost. That's fine. But most of the time, you're wrong. Health care moves slowly, and there's lots of time to think and plan. The costs of pretty much any procedure is pre-negotiated by the insurer and the provider, so they actually do know what it's going to cost. They just don't tell you. There's no fundamental reason you couldn't have been quoted an accurate price in the scenario you described.
- lukeschlather 1y ago
  > But most of the time, you're wrong. Health care moves slowly, and there's lots of time to think and plan. The costs of pretty much any procedure is pre-negotiated by the insurer and the provider, so they actually do know what it's going to cost. They just don't tell you. I received an itemized bill with the exact cost and what would be covered listed, then it changed after the fact. It is certainly the case that for some procedures you can't get this, but for procedures where you know the cost will be hundreds you can easily obtain such a bill. Such bills always involve guesswork though. Even absent insurance this would be true, complications happen.