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True re: negotiated rate. However, the whole premise here is that there is some correspondence between this rate and the negotiated rate. If the negotiated rate
by npalli 13y ago
True re: negotiated rate. However, the whole premise here is that there is some correspondence between this rate and the negotiated rate. If the negotiated rate is the same across the country across all hospital systems ("the magical mid point price") then this chart is not useful. I doubt thats the case.
US Patients go to south america and Asia to get treated. I don't think shopping around the country hospitals to figure out a good option is going to be a big problem. This is a good first step.
- refurb 13y agoThe sad part is, there is little correlation between what the hospitals have on their charge master and what they actually get paid. A hospital with a cost of $20K for a procedure might only get paid $5K, while one with a $10K cost might get paid $8K! In fact, the same hospital can get paid very differently between different insurance companies.
- auctiontheory 13y agothe whole premise here is that there is some correspondence between this rate and the negotiated rate That is a plausible but false assumption. Different providers negotiate different rates. In many cases, the negotiated rate for a given provider is lower than the "cash rate" that an uninsured person would pay, but in many cases the negotiated rate it is actually much higher(!). Maybe in these cases the insurer gets an end-of-year volume-based discount that the insured (me) never gets to see. Source: my recent experience shopping for an MRI while on a high-deductible plan.