Medical Billing

pawz

Last September I unfortunately had to make a trip to the ER. At the chagrin of some here, I lived. Sorry, not sorry. Relatively speaking it was a minor issue.

But for the 10 minutes total I spent w/ an ER physician (not counting the hospital bill), I was billed $630.

My insurance gets involved and that bill drops to $220.

How the fuck does that happen?!



Clearly the actual price for services rendered is $220. Had I not had insurance (read: poor) I would have been stuck paying $630.

In ANY OTHER profession a billing practice like this would be criminal.



Fuck Obamacare or any other bullshit brought forward by Congress recently. Until there is clarity, transparency and recourse for the common bloke, our system is fucked.


How have we arrived at a point where this is OK?!

Having insurance is nice, but it does not-a-fucking-thing to control costs.



I'm all for free-market economies, but the market needs to be fundamentally reorganized so that the providers compete for patients. There's plenty of fucking patients.

Hell, the little-bit-o'-liberal in me would entertain the idea of tax dollars paying for health care; if the providers competed for the business.

Kaepsknee

pawz said:

Last September I unfortunately had to make a trip to the ER. At the chagrin of some here, I lived. Sorry, not sorry. Relatively speaking it was a minor issue.

But for the 10 minutes total I spent w/ an ER physician (not counting the hospital bill), I was billed $630.

My insurance gets involved and that bill drops to $220.

How the fuck does that happen?!



Clearly the actual price for services rendered is $220. Had I not had insurance (read: poor) I would have been stuck paying $630.

In ANY OTHER profession a billing practice like this would be criminal.



Fuck Obamacare or any other bullshit brought forward by Congress recently. Until there is clarity, transparency and recourse for the common bloke, our system is fucked.


How have we arrived at a point where this is OK?!

Having insurance is nice, but it does not-a-fucking-thing to control costs.



I'm all for free-market economies, but the market needs to be fundamentally reorganized so that the providers compete for patients. There's plenty of fucking patients.

Hell, the little-bit-o'-liberal in me would entertain the idea of tax dollars paying for health care; if the providers competed for the business.

Actually if you didn't have insurance, you would have ended paying around the $220 you paid out anyway.

But how are we getting screwed by providers and insurance companies??????

Baphomet

News flash, these issues existed well before Obamacare.

And if we had single payer healthcare, a professional bill reviewer would be in charge of making sure none of this BS was happening.

Just like they make sure that our airforce isn't paying $5000 per hammer.

UW_Doog_Bot

It works like this in all kinds of sectors of the market. Do you think Walmart pays the same rate for services that you do? Of course not. Hell, providers give you different rates based on your own subscription level. ex."Buy 1 full price or buy 2 and the 3rd is 50% off". Imagine the kind of rate you would get if you agreed to buy 100,000 of something. That's what insurers are doing.

Prices can be very discriminatory in a free market.

Baphomet

UW_Doog_Bot said:

Prices can be very discriminatory in a free market.

What do free markets have to do with the US?

UW_Doog_Bot

Baphomet said:

News flash, these issues existed well before Obamacare.

And if we had single payer healthcare, a professional bill reviewer would be in charge of making sure none of this BS was happening.

Just like they make sure that our airforce isn't paying $5000 per hammer.

Lol, you haven't ever worked for a military supplier have you?

Baphomet

UW_Doog_Bot said:

Baphomet said:

News flash, these issues existed well before Obamacare.

And if we had single payer healthcare, a professional bill reviewer would be in charge of making sure none of this BS was happening.

Just like they make sure that our airforce isn't paying $5000 per hammer.

Lol, you haven't ever worked for a military supplier have you?

That was the joke

UW_Doog_Bot

Baphomet said:

UW_Doog_Bot said:

Baphomet said:

News flash, these issues existed well before Obamacare.

And if we had single payer healthcare, a professional bill reviewer would be in charge of making sure none of this BS was happening.

Just like they make sure that our airforce isn't paying $5000 per hammer.

Lol, you haven't ever worked for a military supplier have you?

That was the joke

Whoosh on me then. I'm used to Honda in the tug.

2001400ex

UW_Doog_Bot said:

Baphomet said:

UW_Doog_Bot said:

Baphomet said:

News flash, these issues existed well before Obamacare.

And if we had single payer healthcare, a professional bill reviewer would be in charge of making sure none of this BS was happening.

Just like they make sure that our airforce isn't paying $5000 per hammer.

Lol, you haven't ever worked for a military supplier have you?

That was the joke

Whoosh on me then. I'm used to Honda in the tug.

You don't see my wwoooooossshhhhh.

HTH

2001400ex

pawz said:

Last September I unfortunately had to make a trip to the ER. At the chagrin of some here, I lived. Sorry, not sorry. Relatively speaking it was a minor issue.

But for the 10 minutes total I spent w/ an ER physician (not counting the hospital bill), I was billed $630.

My insurance gets involved and that bill drops to $220.

How the fuck does that happen?!



Clearly the actual price for services rendered is $220. Had I not had insurance (read: poor) I would have been stuck paying $630.

In ANY OTHER profession a billing practice like this would be criminal.



Fuck Obamacare or any other bullshit brought forward by Congress recently. Until there is clarity, transparency and recourse for the common bloke, our system is fucked.


How have we arrived at a point where this is OK?!

Having insurance is nice, but it does not-a-fucking-thing to control costs.



I'm all for free-market economies, but the market needs to be fundamentally reorganized so that the providers compete for patients. There's plenty of fucking patients.

Hell, the little-bit-o'-liberal in me would entertain the idea of tax dollars paying for health care; if the providers competed for the business.

That's 2 arguments we are on the same side of today. I have even been fucked by an ER over a 3 minute ordeal too.

What a cool day man.

Pitchfork51

I was there for like an hour and had to pay soemthing like 1200

wtf

Sledog

$10.00 per aspirin tablet is cheap!

Swaye

I don't use the white man's medicine. Problem solved.

2001400ex

Swaye said:

I don't use the white man's medicine. Problem solved.

GrundleStiltzkin

2001400ex said:

Swaye said:

I don't use the white man's medicine. Problem solved.

Wow, pretty racist.

RaceBannon

You always get a cash discount. Doctor gets his money now not after the insurance company decides to give it to him and with no overhead to fill out the bullshit forms

ApostleofGrief

They should just display prices, or you get some kind of estimate like for auto repairs. Doctors, especially specialists, are very rich and they enjoy the money and making more...

UW_Doog_Bot

Pitchfork51 said:

I was there for like an hour and had to pay soemthing like 1200

wtf

It's because you are paying for all the people who don't pay their medical bills. Which is because the government requires providers to provide care regardless of a patients ability to pay...

pawz

ApostleofGrief said:

They should just display prices, or you get some kind of estimate like for auto repairs. Doctors, especially specialists, are very rich and they enjoy the money and making more...

This. Would solve a lot of problems.


A headache for the receptionist I'm sure. But fuck them.

CuntWaffle

GrundleStiltzkin said:

2001400ex said:

Swaye said:

I don't use the white man's medicine. Problem solved.

Wow, pretty racist.

Hondo the racist can't keep bottling it in. Most hardcore Hillary liberals can't after so long. Sad!

UWhuskytskeet

I miss the days of cheap ER visits!