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No insurance/lower prices only increase patient count if the doctor is a good one. If they're a hack word will get out (or already be out) and nothing will change.
Heh most doctors are hacks/shills for the pharmaceutical industry.
Awesome! That is the key- insurance is expensive, and that is mostly because doctors and hospitals seem to think they can charge astronomical prices for even basic services. There is no way it should cost $125 or $150 to see a doctor for 5 minutes to have them look into your throat and verify you have strep, but that's what most doctors are charging these days.
You are paying $150 because the deadbeats that came before and after you probably payed NOTHING. Whose time is worth more? The mechanic that takes the entire engine of your car apart only to find that your battery was dead, or the mechanic who knew the battery was the first place to look?
Seems so simple, but if the majority of our healthcare providers would follow suit most of our outrageous health bills would go away probably.
No, the insurance companies aren't that stupid. There's a list price and then what the insurance company actually pays. Since I have health insurance rather than prepaid medical care, I'm pretty well acquainted with how the cash price system works. The price the lab charges for cash patients what I have my blood work done charges less than half the list price.
Random article talking about it. I've been fortunate enough not to have anything even remotely approaching my deductible, so I've taken the risk and been a cash payment the same as I was when I didn't have any insurance for two years.
Having worked in the pharmacy in a hospital, I bet the not accepting insurance is more about the hassle.
This is the kind of healthcare overhaul I would support and wanted when Obamacare was signed into law. Good to him and I hope others will continue to follow. I remember reading an article in I believe the LA Times recently about the cost of healthcare and they called hospitals in the LA area and it was cheaper to pay for procedures with cash and no hassle with insurance companies.
You are paying $150 because the deadbeats that came before and after you probably payed NOTHING. Whose time is worth more? The mechanic that takes the entire engine of your car apart only to find that your battery was dead, or the mechanic who knew the battery was the first place to look?
No, I don't think there are very many deadbeats paying nothing at the clinic. Before you go in for your appointment they ask for insurance information so they can bill the insurance company, and then you pay your copay right there. If you don't have insurance, you have to pay the whole bill right up front before going in. You have no chance to see the doctor before paying the bill. The only way that would work is if going to the ER. And the kicker is, without insurance you would pay MORE from my experience, because at least with insurance the bill is knocked down to a lower pre-arranged set price. For example they may initially bill $200 for the visit, insurance forces it down to $150, which you then pay if your insurance doesn't have copays and a high deductible, or they pay and you pay a copay. However with no insurance, you truly are stuck with that entire $200 bill. I know from experience, and they will not budge- I asked on one occurrence why we couldn't negotiate down to the price that insurance companies are charged and they said they are not allowed to, if they did it for me they would have to do it for everyone.
It's not that simple. Because even if the doc cuts his fee in half, that's still more than a lot of patients can pay. Plus, the doc doesn't make enough to maintain a staff. One reason insurance pays docs so much is that busy docs need at least a minimal staff; receptionist/file clerk, an assistant to take patients' temp/blood pressure, order supplies, etc. My doc and her husband got kicked off insurance for ordering too many advanced thyroid tests (they're thyroid experts). Insurance hates to pay for the thyroid disease diagnostic tests (so a lot of thyroid cases go undiagnosed as a result). So they started charging a fraction of the insurance-based fee. But they lost their staff. And even at the lower fee, some patients couldn't pay.
Most doctors who have a practice that operates outside the insurance system completely charge $400/hr. And all the tests they order are out-of-pocket, as well. So a basic blood test could cost the patient $1000. Double or triple that for a more specialized test. Some docs, like the one in the article, are able to still get their tests covered by insurance, even if their fees are not. That makes a huge difference.
I can see this working as for simple things. It get's more complicated if you actually have something wrong that won't go away with a simple ointment or whatever. Get another Dr. involved (surgeon, specialist, etc.) or need special tests....not so much.
This is the kind of healthcare overhaul I would support and wanted when Obamacare was signed into law. Good to him and I hope others will continue to follow. I remember reading an article in I believe the LA Times recently about the cost of healthcare and they called hospitals in the LA area and it was cheaper to pay for procedures with cash and no hassle with insurance companies.
Yes. Obama's plan still has the insurance companies involved. That is considerable overhead.
For whomever cares, this is the doctor's price list:
If he were near me I would go regularly for B12 injections.
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