A family friend, a very smart guy himself, was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Since I’m a neuroscientist, he asked me for advice. I work on brain stimulation, one of the better treatments for Parkinson’s Disease. My institute is a Parkinson’s Centre of Excellence, and I collaborate with movement disorders specialists. I have easy access to experts and tons of relevant training and literature. Nevertheless, I found it very hard to make a recommendation, even between the options his doctor had laid out—-and I wasn’t even considering price, since he has excellent insurance. This decision was smack in the middle of my wheelhouse too; helping with, say, a decision about kidneys would have been even worse.
There’s no way people, especially people in vulnerable situations, can reasonably be expected to catch up with experts that have a decade of advanced training and then second-guess them.
Sure, you technically have time to shop, but it seems to me that this is just an excuse and makes sick people suffer more.
1. Take 30 mins to find the most affordable option. 2. Ask for a lower price.
You also could just live in a country with a good single payer health service, and know that you'll be treated without any bullshit.
The fact that anyone would seriously suggest shopping around for treatment, as if there is a convincing and credible reason why anyone should even have to consider this, is beyond astonishing to me.
I have heard multiple stories now whete independent practices now just want cash, without insurance, payments for much cheaper, and they get paid more in the end.
We are expecting a baby, and one of the tests we had to get done early in the pregnancy was NIPT. There was 2-3 companies we could go with, and when we asked for the price they responded some number between >2.7K - I don't really recall - it could even be 8K. When asked for the cash price, they said 250$.
Crazy.