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Long article, but really interesting.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
* Tylenol pills costing $1.50 each
* "Non-profit" hospitals that charge 11x what labwork costs them.
* "Chargemaster" tables of service charges that vary arbitrarily between hospitals -- I'm reminded of parking requirement laws -- and that the hospitals try to deny have any importance, but which determine what individuals pay.
* $21,000 bill for finding that chest pains were just heartburn. "The bad news was the bill: $995 for the ambulance ride, $3,000 for the doctors and $17,000 for the hospital — in sum, $21,000 for a false alarm."
* Hospitals routinely charge 150% markup for some implantable devices. List price $19,000, patient billed $49,000
* As a quote says, hospitals claim their charity based on the amounts they bill, not the much lower amounts stuff costs them.
* It's not just pharm companies anymore: device companies pay off doctors, or are partially owned by them.
* Medicare costs are spiraling because of aging population, new treatmenets, and spiraling costs in general, but the bureaucracy does a fine job of determining actual costs and keeping payments in line with them -- payments which doctors and hospitals don't have to accept, but do. This despite Medicare's hands being tied in drug price negotiation or even determining which drugs are worth paying for; it's also forced to overpay for durable medical equipment. One the efficiency front, it's using electronic billing, bill checking, and payment.
* Author is enamored of co-pays and unduly skeptical of Medicare-for-all.
( Quotes )
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
* Tylenol pills costing $1.50 each
* "Non-profit" hospitals that charge 11x what labwork costs them.
* "Chargemaster" tables of service charges that vary arbitrarily between hospitals -- I'm reminded of parking requirement laws -- and that the hospitals try to deny have any importance, but which determine what individuals pay.
* $21,000 bill for finding that chest pains were just heartburn. "The bad news was the bill: $995 for the ambulance ride, $3,000 for the doctors and $17,000 for the hospital — in sum, $21,000 for a false alarm."
* Hospitals routinely charge 150% markup for some implantable devices. List price $19,000, patient billed $49,000
* As a quote says, hospitals claim their charity based on the amounts they bill, not the much lower amounts stuff costs them.
* It's not just pharm companies anymore: device companies pay off doctors, or are partially owned by them.
* Medicare costs are spiraling because of aging population, new treatmenets, and spiraling costs in general, but the bureaucracy does a fine job of determining actual costs and keeping payments in line with them -- payments which doctors and hospitals don't have to accept, but do. This despite Medicare's hands being tied in drug price negotiation or even determining which drugs are worth paying for; it's also forced to overpay for durable medical equipment. One the efficiency front, it's using electronic billing, bill checking, and payment.
* Author is enamored of co-pays and unduly skeptical of Medicare-for-all.
( Quotes )