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Thanks. Yeah, a lot of people travel abroad to save money, but its possible to find comparable prices nearby too. Patients aren't trained to shop around with pr

Thanks. Yeah, a lot of people travel abroad to save money, but its possible to find comparable prices nearby too. Patients aren't trained to shop around with procedures though. The Obama Administration has tried to make pricing more transparent--this particular data set is publicly available. Here it is: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-Charge-Data/Inpatient.html https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...

toomuchtodo 13y ago
As someone with a disabled mother on medicaid (whom I spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on for prescriptions and care), thank you.
- refurb 13y ago
  Can I ask why you're spending thousands of dollars on Rx and care? From what I've gathered Medicaid patients have co-pays of $3-$5 on drugs and very small office visit co-pays. I'm not questioning your story, just genuinely curious what the extra costs are.
  - ceejayoz 13y ago
    IIRC, Medicaid has some odd situations where they'll pay for nursing homes but not 10x cheaper (and better outcome, in many cases) home-health aides.
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    Not a problem My mother is covered by Indiana's medicaid program, as she's at the poverty level but not old enough yet to qualify for Medicare. Her prescription buydown/deductible every month is $550, which I pay for. If you don't mind, I don't want to list specific medications, as it might make it easier to determine her identity. She takes medication for bone mineralization, hormone replacement due to a heart condition, a medication to reduce her blood pressure, as well as a Schedule I pain killer 3-4 times a day for pain management due to lower body nerve damage. She'll very likely have some nerves in her lower back severed in the next 6-12 months to relieve the pain. So, her prescriptions alone cost around $5K-$6K/year. This is before her GP or specialist copays (very few providers will take Medicaid patients, so its hard to find and keep them), or a hospital visit or two. Her recent open MRI was completely out of pocket (luckily only $600 at a low-income clinic).
    - refurb 13y ago
      Thanks for sharing. I wasn't aware of Medicaid patients who had to pay those types of costs. I guess my question is, what if a Medicaid patient in IN was truly destitute? There must be some mechanism for patients who can't afford those types of costs.
      - joshAg 13y ago
        unfortunately, i think its usually death.
      - randall 13y ago
        ER visits. Seriously. An ER is required by law to treat anyone who comes in. If you really can't pay, go to the ER. Some argue this is why healthcare costs so much because ERs have to be paid for.
        ken_railey 13y ago
        People often claim that, but it's not a particularly credible argument. Emergency room visits account for less than 2% of total healthcare spending in the US. http://newsroom.acep.org/index.php?s=20301&item=29928 http://newsroom.acep.org/index.php?s=20301&item=29928
        justin66 13y ago
        > An ER is required by law to treat anyone who comes in. They're basically allowed to make you "stable" and then send you out into the cold. They might do more but they don't have to.
        frenchman_in_ny 13y ago
        No. This is wrong, yet people keep citing this. EMTALA [0] requires the hospital to stabilize the patient, ie, make it so that it is no longer an emergency (the "E" in "ER"). If you "really can't pay" and it's not an emergency, you likely will find yourself in collections from the hospital. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and...

toomuchtodo 13y ago

As someone with a disabled mother on medicaid (whom I spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on for prescriptions and care), thank you.

refurb 13y ago
Can I ask why you're spending thousands of dollars on Rx and care? From what I've gathered Medicaid patients have co-pays of $3-$5 on drugs and very small office visit co-pays. I'm not questioning your story, just genuinely curious what the extra costs are.
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  IIRC, Medicaid has some odd situations where they'll pay for nursing homes but not 10x cheaper (and better outcome, in many cases) home-health aides.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  Not a problem My mother is covered by Indiana's medicaid program, as she's at the poverty level but not old enough yet to qualify for Medicare. Her prescription buydown/deductible every month is $550, which I pay for. If you don't mind, I don't want to list specific medications, as it might make it easier to determine her identity. She takes medication for bone mineralization, hormone replacement due to a heart condition, a medication to reduce her blood pressure, as well as a Schedule I pain killer 3-4 times a day for pain management due to lower body nerve damage. She'll very likely have some nerves in her lower back severed in the next 6-12 months to relieve the pain. So, her prescriptions alone cost around $5K-$6K/year. This is before her GP or specialist copays (very few providers will take Medicaid patients, so its hard to find and keep them), or a hospital visit or two. Her recent open MRI was completely out of pocket (luckily only $600 at a low-income clinic).
  - refurb 13y ago
    Thanks for sharing. I wasn't aware of Medicaid patients who had to pay those types of costs. I guess my question is, what if a Medicaid patient in IN was truly destitute? There must be some mechanism for patients who can't afford those types of costs.
    - joshAg 13y ago
      unfortunately, i think its usually death.
    - randall 13y ago
      ER visits. Seriously. An ER is required by law to treat anyone who comes in. If you really can't pay, go to the ER. Some argue this is why healthcare costs so much because ERs have to be paid for.
      - ken_railey 13y ago
        People often claim that, but it's not a particularly credible argument. Emergency room visits account for less than 2% of total healthcare spending in the US. http://newsroom.acep.org/index.php?s=20301&item=29928 http://newsroom.acep.org/index.php?s=20301&item=29928
      - justin66 13y ago
        > An ER is required by law to treat anyone who comes in. They're basically allowed to make you "stable" and then send you out into the cold. They might do more but they don't have to.
      - frenchman_in_ny 13y ago
        No. This is wrong, yet people keep citing this. EMTALA [0] requires the hospital to stabilize the patient, ie, make it so that it is no longer an emergency (the "E" in "ER"). If you "really can't pay" and it's not an emergency, you likely will find yourself in collections from the hospital. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and...