> As of Jan. 1, hospitals must publicly reveal the negotiated rates reached with insurers for services, a landmark shift in the sector notoriously opaque when it comes to pricing. The data offer a peek behind the curtain, exposing prices long kept a secret.
I called the Xray department. Apparently, they don't set appointments as Xrays are a walk-in procedure.
After almost two hours on hold and being handed around, I found someone who was able to tell me that the Xray billing department could provide me the information, provided that I was able to get an exact list of the Xrays that my doctor required. They could see my doctor's referral on their screen, but apparently, I still needed to reach out to my doctor and get the information from him, if I was to provide it to the billing department.
I messaged my doctor four days ago. He hasn't replied. Given that he squeezed me into his schedule at the last minute, and he usually replies to my messages after 10 pm, or during the weekend, it's clear that he's overworked, and I don't want to be an additional burden on him.
The last two weeks have been agony, and I haven't even been able to start to pursuing a diagnosis. This current week has also involved a lot of rage.
I've come to the conclusion that the system is so egregiously predatory that everyone involved - even those who are working within the system to ostensibly help me (such as my doctor) are ultimately culpable, since they are propping up the system.
I called the insurance, and waited while the agent told me they were calling Sutter sort it out. After they told me it was all sorted, I called Sutter Health, and they still couldn't find me in their system and refused to serve me.
So I called again, with the agent on the line, and Sutter took my information. But, neither the insurance agent nor the Sutter Health representative had any idea how to fix the actual problem, so I'll have to have have this fight every time I work with Sutter Health.
I spent close to two hours on hold today, with the Anthem insurance's help line dropping me from the queue every few minutes.
The only parts of the system that aren't an outright scam are intentionally neglected and broken: still part of the scam.
Where in the US there are clinics, ERs, urgent cares, and specialty practices, elsewhere there's just hospitals and you can go for any kind of treatment big or small.
ER/Urgent care is the same whether it has its own physical building or is a department in a hospital.
None of this has any impact on pricing.