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Months ago. I live in Quebec (which is where the hospital incident occurred). Now thanks to the Internet it's way harder for hotel clerks to claim prices are d

Months ago. I live in Quebec (which is where the hospital incident occurred). Now thanks to the Internet it's way harder for hotel clerks to claim prices are different, which used to be exactly what they'd do, consequently it's improved dramatically on that front. I still remember the face of an Ottawa guy decades ago confronted with a european smartphone shoved in his face to show he was lying through his teeth. He clearly wasn't ready for the whole concept.

hedora 9d ago
The hospital thing is standard practice in the US. The Canadian hospitals likely have to lie to get reasonable payouts from US insurance companies. For instance, I once needed $600 of tests at the ER. The hospital billed $80K. The insurance company paid $7K. I paid $100. Sure, the $600 does not include the ER overhead, but the $7K was still insanely inflated. The important thing is that the money ultimately came from insurance premiums, so every middleman was able to reliably extort all patients.
- fidotron 9d ago
  > For instance, I once needed $600 of tests at the ER. The hospital billed $80K. The insurance company paid $7K. I paid $100. The other bit of the story was "we realised you might not be American from your face when we showed you the price list". (They told me Americans would have seen the same list and thought the prices were reasonable). I'm guessing you are American? You need to understand how utterly insane this sounds if you are used to European systems. And don't get me started on the fact Canadian healthcare doesn't actually transfer between provinces.
  - badc0ffee 8d ago
    What? You can use your provincial health care card in any other province. My mom made an urgent care visit while in BC, showed her Alberta health care card, and got the usual service with no extra paperwork or costs. (Behind the scenes, BC would have billed Alberta for this visit)

hedora 9d ago

The hospital thing is standard practice in the US. The Canadian hospitals likely have to lie to get reasonable payouts from US insurance companies. For instance, I once needed $600 of tests at the ER. The hospital billed $80K. The insurance company paid $7K. I paid $100. Sure, the $600 does not include the ER overhead, but the $7K was still insanely inflated. The important thing is that the money ultimately came from insurance premiums, so every middleman was able to reliably extort all patients.

fidotron 9d ago
> For instance, I once needed $600 of tests at the ER. The hospital billed $80K. The insurance company paid $7K. I paid $100. The other bit of the story was "we realised you might not be American from your face when we showed you the price list". (They told me Americans would have seen the same list and thought the prices were reasonable). I'm guessing you are American? You need to understand how utterly insane this sounds if you are used to European systems. And don't get me started on the fact Canadian healthcare doesn't actually transfer between provinces.
- badc0ffee 8d ago
  What? You can use your provincial health care card in any other province. My mom made an urgent care visit while in BC, showed her Alberta health care card, and got the usual service with no extra paperwork or costs. (Behind the scenes, BC would have billed Alberta for this visit)