Re:A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k
by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @08:07AM
(#19796323)
That herring is so red it may as well be a cooked lobster. The overwhelming majority of medical care is not urgent care. The overwhelming majority of medical costs are costs that can be foreseen long enough in advance to shop around. Even if you think you might have skin cancer you're still in a position to choose where you go to get your tests.
Re:A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k
by empath75 on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @08:31AM
(#19796450)
Hospitals won’t tell you the costs of treatment ahead of time, even for easily predictable items like baby delivery. It’s impossible to shop around.
Re:A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k
by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @08:38AM
(#19796495)
Yes. And that's exactly the problem I'm complaining about and challenging you to find an example of in a loosely regulated market.
Re:A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k
by empath75 on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @10:19AM
(#19797193)
There’s no regulations preventing them from quoting prices to you.
Re:A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k
by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @10:42AM
(#19797411)
There's regulations that prevent them from being undercut by entities that are willing to have transparent pricing. The problem here is not lack of regulation. It is a lack of competition. Regulation forces providers to adopt a particular business model and that model allows the kind of pricing shenanigans we see. At the end of the day everything comes down to dollars and a lack of pricing information means it is not possible to compare like services across providers. Being able to compare supposedly interchangeable goods/services is a core part of the free market and it is missing from healthcare in the US.
The comparison isn't laughable at all.