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A comment on The U.S. could slash health-care costs with two fundamental changes. Parent comment

Re:The U.S. could slash health-care costs with two fundament... by harryh on Tuesday November 12, 2019 @04:26PM (#21518337)
Hospitals are "hiding the umbrella."

Contracts prohibit them from raising prices on some items, so they shift price increases to other items sometimes in the ridiculous ways you list.

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Re:The U.S. could slash health-care costs with two fundament... by SilasX on Tuesday November 12, 2019 @05:38PM (#21518985)
Can you explain the metaphor "hiding the umbrella"? Google didn't turn up any obvious meaning.

If I had to guess, it's a reference to the joke about turning in your expense report, after being told they won't reimburse you for the umbrella you lost, and so you overstaet expenses enough to cover the umbrella's cost. But that never made sense to me, since they demand receipts anyway...

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Re:The U.S. could slash health-care costs with two fundament... by harryh on Tuesday November 12, 2019 @07:07PM (#21519654)
Your guess is correct. And perhaps the metaphor isn't perfect (though many places don't require receipts below a certain value) but it gets the point across.
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