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Saturday, March 25, 2017
Wisconsin Weasel Meets Expectations
6 comments:
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toadold said...
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The Paul is now about as popular as a skunk in an elevator....Could that have possibly been planned?
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3/25/17, 4:31 AM
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Rodger the Real King of France said...
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'zACTLY wot I suspect ...
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3/25/17, 7:15 AM
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Linda Sue O'Grady said...
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There is nothing on the table right now to fix the underlying problem of the why health care costs consumers so much.
Insurance companies negotiate. A uninsured visit to the hospital is charged to the patient at "full cost" but an insured visit costs the insurance company a fraction of that amount. That's one of reasons costs are high and continue to go higher, to increase the insurance company payment which is restricted by their payment agreement.
If you have 80-20 insurance policy, you will pay 20% of the total bill, as presented, but the insurance will pay a fraction of their 80%. That's one of the reasons costs are so high and continue to go higher. If something is reduced for the insurance company, the reduction only applies to the insurance company payment. 80/20 should be 80/20 of the bill as negotiated and reduced by the insurance company.
The reason a doctor or a hospital opts out of a certain insurance company is because they don't like that company's negotiated, reduced payment.
Individuals rarely review their bills, or try to negotiate them. Hospital overcharges are rampant and hidden in the billing summary sent to patients. I personally asked for an itemized bill from the hospital when I had brain surgery in 1998. If you don't ask, you don't get an itemized billed. Even back then, the outrageous prices were there. I remember that I was billed $12 for a q-tip.
Patient advocate services note charges like $308.00 for four boxes of sterile gauze pads each containing twenty-four 4 inch by 4 inch dressings, which can be bought over the counter at Walgreen’s for $3.99 a box; $18.00 for a single Accu-Chek diabetes test strip, which Amazon sells boxes of 50 for about $27.00 or 55 cents each. $32.00 for the blanket used keep surgery patients warm. It is of course reusable and is costs around $13.00 Some people found a charge for the gown the surgeon wore. When the nurse hands you a pill, that is considered part of nursing, and part of the underlying daily cost of your room, yet, "oral administration fees" are found in the bill. These charges represent thousands of dollars unfairly billed to individuals.
If you go in the ER, and the doc orders you to be admitted, even if you wait until the next day to be put in your room, you will be charged for it from the moment the doctor writes his order. If you are in ICU and your doc orders you out to a room, you will be charged for a full day in both the ICU and the room, because you were in both.
and of course... there was evidence found that individual patients were billed around 10% more than insurance companies.
http://time.com/money/4541049/hospitals-prices-overcharging-patients-report/
Sorry for being so long winded, but, hell, I have a lot to say on this topic. -
3/25/17, 8:37 AM
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Rodger the Real King of France said...
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10!
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3/25/17, 8:55 AM
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Anonymous said...
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^^Linda Sue - I've had several surgeries and like you, refused to accept the summary statement and asked for details. The details were outrageous.
One time a cardiologist told me I could go home, but the hospital insisted that my PCP had to release me. I stayed another two days because it was the weekend and he wasn't available. I had no monitoring, no meds, nothing, effectively a stay in a hotel with a lot of noise and lousy food. The hospital billed for two more days, thousands of dollars. Another time, a different hospital billed for a private room, but I had a roommate for the whole six days. More thousands of dollars.
I take a lot of meds and have 90 day supplies, but the hospitals refused to accept them and administer them to me while there, instead charging outrageous amounts to dispense them from their pharmacy. Surgeons have told me that issuing my own meds from my supply while there is perfectly OK, but the scam is in play.
The outrage came when I called Medicare and my private insurer to point out the overcharges, and the representatives in every instance dismissed me with an airy "Don't worry about it."
Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick -
3/25/17, 10:44 AM
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Linda Sue O'Grady said...
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Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick --- Yes. Fraudulent billings for "private" rooms is often missed, and price gouging for meds is an industry standard.
These things need be addressed, but never will be. -
3/25/17, 1:19 PM
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