People love their private insurance
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Never in a million years would I do this.
Visited my doctor for the first time in several months to get some prescription allergy meds.
About $20 for the exam and $15 for a monthâs supply of meds.
Grateful as hell I live in Japan when it comes to healthcare costs.
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Really? What about the one that recently fixed you after the other guy fucked up? You seemed pretty positive about him at the time.
This tracks with my experience. I was misdiagnosed for decades and it took years reading journals, watching presentations by experts, and talking to cured patients to get up to speed. I quit my job for several years so I could devote all of my time to solving it. How many people can do that? When I figured it out, only one local doctor agreed to test me and he ordered the wrong tests. I ordered the correct tests thinking that might matter. Results were abnormal. Took them to my next few appointments and nobody cared. No follow ups or further testing just breathing exercises.
Flew from your state to California to see an actual expert. All out of pocket obviously. I was able to get a critical test there that was positive. Also left with orders in hand for tons of testing that was covered when performed in-network at home. More positive results followed by a tumor on imaging. Insurance backs out: orders from network doctors only from now on. Still at an impasse. So itâs possible to do all of the things you mentioned and still lose because people love their private insurance.
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Update: My doctor filed the appeal the following day on July 21. I called in the refill today and no one has heard anything on the status. I wonder if this is the âwe never received itâ angle again? Theyâve used that twice already on appeals.
âPeople love their private insuranceâ
Health economists think of insurers as essentially buying in bulk, using their large membership to get better deals. Some were startled to see numerous instances in which insurers pay more than the cash rate.
LMAO
The OG independently-confirmed-by-thinking-about-it bros being shocked by reality again. Iâve talked about this somewhere before but why wouldnât insurers encourage patients to find the lowest cash price and reimburse plus a finderâs fee if it saves big money?
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I have to quote this part since most people will close the article in a fit of rage before getting this far:
The potential penalty from the federal government is minimal, with a maximum of $109,500 per year.
As of July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had sent nearly 170 warning letters to noncompliant hospitals but had not yet levied any fines.
Catherine Howden, a spokeswoman for the agency, said it expected âhospitals to comply with these legal requirements, and will enforce these rules.â
Wait for itâŚ
She added that hospitals that do not post prices within 90 days of a warning letter âmay be sent a second warning letter.â
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But will it be strongly worded?
Some do, but Iâm surprised itâs not more popular.
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I mean, doesnât that make a self evident case against their existence? The only thing they can plausibly bring to the table at this point is pricing power, and they even suck at that.
I suppose you think BMWs just buy themselves?
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Because their profits are capped at a percentage of their expenditures for treatment. Itâs literally an incentive to pay more for treatment and pass along the costs to the consumer.
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Right so take this to the next logical step that must be true (i.e., industrial organization) that would again just absolutely shock the pearl-clutching econ bros. I mean what youâre saying is obviously true but would never work in FrEe MaRkEtS. Another point of emphasis: that NYT article sort of concludes that they pay higher prices because theyâre bad at negotiating (lol).
https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1429850109890547712
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Iâm surprise we havenât had Riverman stop by with a âOf course, nothing is going to happen to those hospitals that say, âFuck youâ, and donât post their pricesâ.
Maybe he did and I missed it.
Obviously, he would be right.
LOL of course the biggest non compliant hospital slapped right wing asshole Ken Langoneâs name on the wall, just chefâs kiss stuff.
The other part of this whole NYT story thatâs pretty funny is that Iâm almost certain that universal health care administrators have a proven track record of effective negotiating on price because they have so much concentrated buying power. The US is just determined that if itâs the âAmerican wayâ then it must be the best way, against all evidence.