A Kid, a Minor Bike Accident and a $19,000 Medical Bill

Re:A Kid, a Minor Bike Accident and a $19,000 Medical Bill by danielbarla on Thursday November 26, 2020 @07:52AM (#25219579)

I don't think 20% of that number seems normal, either. It's still ~$4K, for what sounds like stitches and local anesthesia (unsure, as the link does not seem to open the article for me, only gives a list of other NPR articles). That's over one month of pre-tax salary (edit: for the median US worker), which does not equate with the length, complexity or risk of the treatment.

So, what I am saying is that I fail to see what attempts at limiting the price has to do with the price being too high in the first place.

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Re:A Kid, a Minor Bike Accident and a $19,000 Medical Bill by rasz on Thursday November 26, 2020 @08:50AM (#25219980)

>The ACA requires health insurers in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of their premiums (after subtracting taxes and regulatory fees) on medical costs.

Means their profits are capped at 20%. Only way to grow profits is to inflate costs by colluding with private health providers.

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Re:A Kid, a Minor Bike Accident and a $19,000 Medical Bill by danielbarla on Thursday November 26, 2020 @09:11AM (#25220145)

Ah, I see. What the parent poster and myself seem to be getting at is that in terms of international pricing, perhaps 1000$ of service happened here (and I'm being generous - in many places, that would be considered outrageously high). A 20% profit margin would put it at 1200$. How it got to 19K is mind boggling.

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Re:A Kid, a Minor Bike Accident and a $19,000 Medical Bill by rasz on Thursday November 26, 2020 @09:43AM (#25220379)

No. $19K of service happened here as documented in hospital billing, and Insurance company can claim $3800 profit.

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Re:A Kid, a Minor Bike Accident and a $19,000 Medical Bill by archagon on Thursday November 26, 2020 @10:37PM (#25225367)

As I recall, inflated costs were just as much of a problem before ACA, though?

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