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Re:Unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically a... by monocasa on Friday March 02, 2018 @11:35AM (#16502986)
How do I shop for prices when I'm bleeding out in the back of an ambulance?
Re:Unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically a... by theseatoms on Friday March 02, 2018 @11:50AM (#16503191)
What % of medical expenditures does this scenario encompass?

You're describing a corner case that can be, at least partially, planned for ahead of time (by consumers, insurers, a combination of the two, etc).

And sometimes your hand is forced in all sorts of markets. But if enough shoppers are even somewhat price-discerning, the "value per price" that you pay for a given good or service should be significantly lower than it is in the current state of affairs.

Re:Unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically a... by kurthr on Friday March 02, 2018 @04:40PM (#16505993)
Emergency care (and EOL) represent the majority of all costs for many people. Other than regular check-ups I haven't been to the doctor more than 30 times in the last 30 years. One visit to the emergency room in an ambulance is at least $10k and that is equal to 30 years of $300 visits. A real emergency can easily be several $100k once you figure in recovery. So I can't shop at all for 50-90% of all my spending!

After a heart-attack/car-wreck the ambulance should take me to the closest hospital not the one that happens to be 30 miles farther away and in-network. If I'm EOL care, then I likely have pre-existing conditions and travel limitation that will limit my ability to change plans, much less hospitals.

Re:Unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically a... by FireBeyond on Friday March 02, 2018 @04:52PM (#16506099)
You want added irony? Insurance has been known to deny ambulance bills because the ride "was not pre approved".

Including Heli EMS from car accident scenes...

Re:Unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically a... by conanbatt on Friday March 02, 2018 @12:32PM (#16503705)
How do you shop for life insurance if you are dead?