4 ms·
(I am slightly hesitant to publicly share info like this, but what the heck...for science!) I tore my ACL 1.5 years ago playing soccer, and went through a simi
by tsycho 13y ago
(I am slightly hesitant to publicly share info like this, but what the heck...for science!)
I tore my ACL 1.5 years ago playing soccer, and went through a similar surgery as the OP at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. Interestingly, my final bill for the surgery (including the same things as the OP) was almost the same - $67k and change.
However, more importantly, the actual amount paid to the doctor/hospital etc. was $18k, of which I think I had to pay around $2k, insurance covered the rest. So while the sticker price might be $67k, the actual cost is significantly lesser. In the bills that I saw from my insurance company (BCBS), for each line item, they would have a column for "Allowed Amount" or something like that which generally varied between 20-30% of the billed amount.
On a different note, I don't whether the cost would have been the whole $67k if I was uninsured. I hope not. But if yes, that's really punitive to the people who can least afford it. For that matte, even a 18k cost is prohibitively expensive for someone who cannot afford insurance.
- smartician 13y agoThe way understand it, yes, the uninsured person would receive the $67k bill, but can then go and negotiate to lower the amount payable. Insurance companies just did that negotiation beforehand and have a standing agreement with the provider. All of this reeks of huge inefficiencies to me. There are people at both the insurance companies as well as at every health care service provider whose full time job is to negotiate rates with each other?
- rsanders 13y agoI've been in this situation, and there is no comparison at all. Nobody but the very wealthy can afford to pay out of pocket for healthcare. A single, minor injury can cost you $50,000 - $100,000. A chronic condition, cancer treatment, or major surgery can easily head north of $1 million. Sure, you can try to negotiate pretty much anything. But what kind of leverage do you think you have? Insurance companies can put many millions of dollars of revenue at risk with the threat of dropping a stubborn healthcare provider from their network. In contrast, your negotiation position is A) please? and B) I may be forced to declare bankruptcy, in which case you may or may not get your money. If you have enough assets, then option B is basically another form of A: "please, don't take away my house or the savings I've spent my life earning." The bigger your bill, the greater the incentive to deal with the annoyance involved in collecting from you. The likely consequence of your personal financial ruin doesn't enter into their calculations.