Paying ‘til it hurts: a single ER stitch costs $500.
Conservatives have traditionally paid little attention to antitrust problems, preferring to allow the market to sort out winners and losers. However, the hospital industry is not competitive in the traditional sense. Hospital mergers and consolidations have resulted in market power such as is illustrated in the New York Times article. Consumers run the risk of a health care system composed of regional monopoly insurers and hospitals where the real loser is consumers and taxpayers.
“At Mercy Hospital in Port Huron, Mich., Chelsea Manning, 22, a student, received bills for close to $3,000 for six stitches after she tripped running up a path. Insurers and patients negotiated lower prices, but those charges were a starting point.”
There’s no easy answer. However, keep in mind that many hospitals are non-profit entities. That means they were established for the public good and are not required to pay sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes and receive preferential bond financing. Some of the hospitals in the article spent only about 2% of revenue on indigent patients — less than half what non-profit hospitals in Texas are required to provide.
The price a firm charges should be entirely up to them. However, a huge “list price” suggests the very people a non-profit hospital is there to serve(uninsured people who need care) are not being served very well.
Then maybe an average price should be created, then each hospital should show the % markup over average for procedures? Then at least you have a good idea of which hospital to go to
It was just Monday that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it had identified and fixed the source of about 80 percent of the errors with 834 transmissions, the files that tell insurance companies when people have signed up for their plans.
Insurance companies haven’t seen that fix come through in practice yet. Reached by the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein this afternoon, American’s Health Insurance Plan spokesman Robert Zirkelbach said that “health plans continue to experience significant problems with the ‘834’ enrollment files.”
“although Medicaid sign-ups through HealthCare.gov have been considered a rare bright spot in the flawed Obamacare rollout, the federal portal has been unable to send those Medicaid applications to the states for final processing. If states can’t receive and complete their work on Medicaid applications by the end of the year, people could go without Medicaid coverage in early 2014 despite having an eligibility determination.”
“No one will be lose their insurance”-Barack Obama
Paying ‘til it hurts: a single ER stitch costs $500.
Conservatives have traditionally paid little attention to antitrust problems, preferring to allow the market to sort out winners and losers. However, the hospital industry is not competitive in the traditional sense. Hospital mergers and consolidations have resulted in market power such as is illustrated in the New York Times article. Consumers run the risk of a health care system composed of regional monopoly insurers and hospitals where the real loser is consumers and taxpayers.
No one really wants to leave a hospital while needing stitches. It makes sense they can run up the price
Yeah, they aren’t able to leave to a free clinic
“At Mercy Hospital in Port Huron, Mich., Chelsea Manning, 22, a student, received bills for close to $3,000 for six stitches after she tripped running up a path. Insurers and patients negotiated lower prices, but those charges were a starting point.”
Do away with hospitals then?
Statistics show that hospitals ARE more likely to have infections and diseases. Maybe the Doctor visiting household model will see a return?
Questionable. Concierge doctors cater to a segment of the market that wouldn’t be relying on emergency room services anyway.
There’s no easy answer. However, keep in mind that many hospitals are non-profit entities. That means they were established for the public good and are not required to pay sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes and receive preferential bond financing. Some of the hospitals in the article spent only about 2% of revenue on indigent patients — less than half what non-profit hospitals in Texas are required to provide.
The price a firm charges should be entirely up to them. However, a huge “list price” suggests the very people a non-profit hospital is there to serve(uninsured people who need care) are not being served very well.
Then maybe an average price should be created, then each hospital should show the % markup over average for procedures? Then at least you have a good idea of which hospital to go to
It was just Monday that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it had identified and fixed the source of about 80 percent of the errors with 834 transmissions, the files that tell insurance companies when people have signed up for their plans.
Insurance companies haven’t seen that fix come through in practice yet. Reached by the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein this afternoon, American’s Health Insurance Plan spokesman Robert Zirkelbach said that “health plans continue to experience significant problems with the ‘834’ enrollment files.”
Train wreck
I’m sure the insurance companies are all too eager..
Especially since their stock values are actually going up
Along with a generous deal of underreporting.
“although Medicaid sign-ups through HealthCare.gov have been considered a rare bright spot in the flawed Obamacare rollout, the federal portal has been unable to send those Medicaid applications to the states for final processing. If states can’t receive and complete their work on Medicaid applications by the end of the year, people could go without Medicaid coverage in early 2014 despite having an eligibility determination.”
“No one will be lose their insurance”-Barack Obama