Re:Medicare will require hospitals to post prices online
by BadCookie on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @05:04PM
(#16926147)
There's a business called ZoomCare where I live that posts their prices for uninsured patients. I am quite annoyed that I, someone who has private insurance with ZoomCare as an in-network provider, was charged almost twice as much as the posted price. That money comes out of my pocket because I have one of these high deductible plans. So even places that are decent enough to post prices pull some b.s. when insurance is involved.
Re:Medicare will require hospitals to post prices online
by jessaustin on Thursday April 26, 2018 @08:10AM
(#16931109)
It's a bit of a gray area, but theoretically the provider has a contractual obligation to your insurer, to charge what your insurer requires. Also, they have to do more work for you than for an uninsured patient. By bringing your insurer into this, you've also made more work for them. You could have made it easier for everyone by simply telling the provider that you are uninsured.
Re:Medicare will require hospitals to post prices online
by kmonsen on Thursday April 26, 2018 @08:52AM
(#16931381)
I got some fancy new experimental equipment when I was recovering from a broken arm. I had to sign a paper that if I lost it I could be responsible so I asked how much it was and no one could answer and I was the first to ask.
In the end I signed and was never asked to return the item.
I was livid when I couldn't find out how much it would cost for a medical procedure for my wife. All I got were excuses about how they couldn't do it. So many of us have high deductible insurance now. How can they not be setup to do this yet? How is it that we're not all demanding it?
Let's be clear: there's no real problem that couldn't possibly be solved here. All the other industries do it, medicine is no different. If unpredictable problems cause new expenses, then you can either disclaim those from upfront quotes and/or try to predict likely events that would cause additional charges.