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Re:Anthem drops controversial new plan to cap anesthesia cov... by ryanackley on Sunday December 08, 2024 @03:24PM (#42360099)
This is a straw man argument. Yes they shouldn't deny a prescription if your doctor says you need it.

What I'm talking about is capping the costs of a supporting doctor for a surgical procedure. From my quick research, there is no significant cost basis for surgery running longer than planned besides the anesthesiologist's time. So the doctor would make $400k instead of $500k per year.

Here is some perspective. The anesthesiologist's bill for my wife's colonoscopy in 2023 was $2k. This is a routine procedure that takes less than an hour. Also, the place was just filled with patients and there was one guy handling them all.

Re:Anthem drops controversial new plan to cap anesthesia cov... by jliptzin on Sunday December 08, 2024 @06:24PM (#42361635)
I agree. I'm just saying that instead of reducing healthcare costs by having insurance companies deny necessary procedures and medications seemingly randomly, there should be serious regulations capping healthcare costs. Generally speaking I am against any form of government-set price controls, but healthcare costs are so completely out of control that I don't know of any other way to deal with it. It's also a unique situation where the customer has no way of shopping around for a competitor - if you're having an emergency, your only choice is the nearest hospital - they should not be taking advantage of that situation and making you pay through the nose.