$260 a month for whole family doesn't seem that bad as I am paying about that now just for me. Of course after reading through this thread I am guessing I am probably getting overcharged too. That said all of these horror stories show just how messed up our system is. I agree the last round of reform doesn't nearly go far enough but we needed to take that step to get past the opposition to doing any reform. Just as a side note I am going to be in Asia in Sept. and am planning to get all of my routine exams done in Singapore and in the future if I ever plan on getting any elective surgery I'm going to get it done in Asia. The care is as good, if not better in some cases, and way less expensive.
Universal Health Care would solve this problem, but you Republicans and Conservatives are TOO STUPID to realize this until it happens to you. My sister in Canada loves the States but would never live here because on the EXPENSIVE health care. The wait they may have for CERTAIN treatments/surgeries is MINIMAL when compared to the cost of going BROKE with Health Care. Hell, EVEN Sarah Palin used to go to Canada for Health Care before she became a WINGNUT. GREED, all it is.
No...but universal health care system would pay them Salaries and they would still make a very good living. Too many doctors are in it to become MULTI-Millionaires, instead of saving lives.
Are you proposing a system of coverage where people do not pay anything at all for their care? This man had insurance, he is just unhappy that even after his insurance paid parts of his claims his bill was still so high. Universal coverage would not solve that problem, only price controls will. Insurance cannot control that a hospital charges thousands of dollars for an emergency room visit.
One of the arguments for universal care is that the larger purchasing power of the singular entity would force prices down, a la walmart. Hard to say how viable that really is - I know in Japan prices are very tighly controlled and it seems to be working quite nicely. D&D ahoy.
How much are your out-of-pocket maximums? Paying 5k in medical bills seems like that would be above the OOP max.
So got my second bill from my emergency appendectomy. 1st bill for abdominal and pelvic CT scans - $32.75 for my part. 2nd bill from hospital for room and stay - $510.00 for 12 hours in the room. Best part was it is just a letter essentially. It said "the insurance paid their part and now you owe this much." No itemized list, didn't say how much insurance, paid. No other information. Will be calling them today to ask for the itemized list of charges.
Its not a panacea but it would help lower costs by spreading out the risk pool. At the moment people who don't have insurance are still entitled to emergency medical care, which is the most expensive and those costs get passed on to the hospital and government. With universal insurance a lot of those costs can be defrayed as those who aren't paying into the system now will pay into it.
how do you know this? just because of some media propaganda? or some rogue doc that makes the rest of the field look bad? i assure you, if doctors wanted to make money, at least half of them have the smarts and suaveness to pursue something a little 'easier.' going to medical school, accumulating 200k worth of principal debt, getting paid below minimum wage during their residency years (which lasts a while) and spending a lifetime paying off the interests accrued on their debt is NOT the fastest way to make money or become a multi-millionaire, i assure you. not to mention the cost-benefit of doing all of this.
If your total out of pocket for your emergency appendectomy was 542.75, you've got some darn good insurance. I would bet that you will get more bills later, from the individual Doctors, etc.
I figured most hospitals/medical offices did this without asking. I remember when I went to pay my hospital bill after my car wreck, they knocked off 20% because I paid in full. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/One-Way-to-Lower-a-Doctors-nytimes-744439581.html?x=0&.v=1 In his book, "Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grubbing Secrets," Consumerist.com's contributing editor Phil Villarreal shares one way to get a lower medical bill. Last year, he was able to knock $1,000 off the $4,000 price of his daughter's birth simply by asking the hospital, obstetrician, anesthesiologist and pediatrician to each reduce their bills by 25 percent if he paid the bill in full over the phone. "It seems the medical establishment is so used to getting stiffed by patients who either declare bankruptcy or just flat-out refuse to pay, that they'll give up one in the bush for three in the hand," Mr. Villarreal wrote in his book. What was his exact script? Here it is. "Hey, my friend told me that if I offer to pay the bill in full over the phone, I get a 25 percent discount." And the response he generally received was "O.K." "It was the same conversation with the doctors as it was with the hospital. There was no negotiation whatsoever. Just standard procedure," Mr. Villarreal said by e-mail. I think I'm going to adopt Mr. Villarreal's approach when I feel a medical bill is inflated. Asking for a discount in this way over the phone seems less embarrassing and confrontational than asking the doctor in person for a discount. I have to admit I've done that successfully in the past, but now I feel slightly awkward about visiting those doctors again. No wonder other tips for haggling with a doctor also similarly recommend offering to pay a discounted amount immediately or upfront. Still, as I discussed in this recent Bucks post about punishing doctors who make you wait, whether your doctor's office will be allowed to offer you a discount generally depends on the insurance policy and the practice's philosophy, among other variables. What do you think is the best approach for getting a discount on a doctor or hospital bill? Have you ever tried Mr. Villarreal's technique and, if so, how did it go?
I have no insurance and had to make a trip to the emergency room a while back...i paid that day about 150 bucks and asked if i would be billed anything else or if i was done, although the cashier said that was it, obviously I was doubtful...sure enough i got a bill for almost 800 bucks later....i've been ignoring it for weeks waiting on a new discounted billas they attempt to negotiate and i recently go one for $362 from a collections agency they hired. I think i can call the agency and get some more taken off, but what do y'all suggest? What's the process here, when would it eventually reach my credit report, if at all?
